sermons'' 



ON 



DUTIES OF DAILY LIFE 



BY 

FRANCIS E. PAGET, M.A. 

RECTOR OF ELFORD. 



" Caro reclamat ; sed Patris 
Urget voluntas : nos tua 
Virtute da fortes sequi 
Jesu, quod exemplo doces. 



*^<r 1872 



NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY JAMES A. SPARKS, 

No. 161 Fulton street, opposite St. Paul's Church. 
1844. 






W, BENEDICT & CO., PRINT., 
16 Spruce Street. 



PREFACE 



The sermons in this volume being intended for Do- 
mestic Reading, it has been the writer's endeavor to 
make them as clear and simple as possible both in 
style and language. 

In designating them as Sermons on Duties of 
Daily Life, he does not mean to intimate that he has 
done more than dwell upon som^ few of those Chris- 
tian graces on which the Churchman's character is 
built up. He has not even endeavored to complete 
the circuit of the most eminent, but only to inculcate 
those which it seems specially needful, at the present 
time, to bring under the consideration of all classes. 

Pulpit-instruction must always take its tone, more 
or less, from the religious character of the age. Every 
generation has its distinguishing form of error ; for 
each, in succession, the tempter provides new snares or 
revives old ones. Against each heretical or schismatic 
tendency, as it arises, it is the duty of the Christian 



IV PREFACE. 

Priesthood to warn the faithful. Hence, at different 
times, some one class of doctrines has been more ur- 
gently insisted on than any other ; and this, not 
so much on account of the relative importance of 
those doctrines in the scheme of Revelation, as be- 
cause, from special circumstances, there was at some 
given period a special danger lest the children of the 
Church should be perverted in some particular res- 
pect. 

Thus, at one time, the activity of Infidel writers 
has forced the current of Theology into a channel in 
which Apologies for Scripture, and discussions on the 
Evidences of natural and revealed Religion, have been 
multiplied, till other subjects of equal importance 
have seemed well nio-h forced into the back-ground. 
At another time, the maintaining and propagation of 
Socinian heresy hds caused the Godhead of our 
blessed Lord to be assiduously maintained and de- 
fended by the orthodox, as if that were almost the 
only point on which a right faith is necessary. In 
every age the Church warns her children against the 
errors that are most likely to beset them, not really 
giving to any doctrines a greater importance than 
Scripture has assigned to them, but speaking under 
certain circumstances more fully of those which hap- 
pen to be in dispute, than of those about which there 
is no controversy. 

In the present volume it has been the Author's 



PREFACE. V 

wish and endeavor to avoid disputed topics as much 
as possible, not because he has no opinion of his own 
on the subjects which so unhappily agitate us, nor 
because he deems it undesirable that Churchmen, 
when fully instructed, should choose their side ; but 
simply, because the object of a Sermon is something 
more than to help persons to become judges of con- 
troversy ; and it is more than ever the duty of a 
preacher, in times of controversy, to remind his 
hearers that the way to be enlightened to discern 
divine truth is to seek it in the practice of obedience. 
(John vii. 17.) 

Accordingly, in the ensuing discourses, he has said 
as little as possible on the religious questions of the 
day, and has preferred speaking on subjects in respect 
to which advice seems most needed, while party spirit 
is running high, and wherein Christian duties have 
been most forgotten. At the same time, he feels it 
due to himself and to the reader to say that he has 
uniformly enforced Church-principles, as they are 
called, wherever the subject under discussion has led 
to them. 

And by Church-principles he means those which 
are in entire accordance with the Church of the Pray- 
er Book; a Church in which all things necessary to 
salvation may be found, and which offers us blessings 
and privileges far greater and more numerous than 
we choose to avail ourselves of ^ — a Church which 



VI PREFACE. 

is Catholic, not sectarian ; following primitive rule 
and practice, not the corruptions of divided times and 
later ages ; neither Romanizing nor ultra-Protestant, 
but evangelical and apostolical in the true sense of 
those terms ; a Church, in ^yhich there may be im- 
perfections and deficiencies (as in her discipline, in 
the working of her system, and in the lives and tem- 
pers of her members), but with which, till they have 
lived up to her ordinances, fully and unreservedly, it 
does not behoove any of her children to be dissatisfied, 
and of which, therefore, it still less beliooves them to 
set themselves up as judges. 

With the teaching of that Church, as exhibited in 
her Prayer Book, the writer has endeavored to 
identify his OAvn ; and if there be anything in this 
volume which is not in accordance with that teach- 
ing, which comes short of it, or goes beyond it, the 
"writer desires to repudiate and revoke it, and to sub- 
mit himself in all thino;s to her teaching. 

And he begs the prayers of those who may chance 
to differ from him, as well as of those who agree 
w^ith him, that what he has here said truly, may 
bring forth fruit unto perfection, and that what is un- 
sound (if, unhappily, any such thing there be), may 
wither, and die, angi find no entrance into his readers' 
hearts. 

ELFORD RECTORY. 

FEAST OF THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 
1844. 



CONTENTS 



SERMON I. 

SOWING AND REAPING. 

HOSEA X. 12. 

Page 

Sow to yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy. . . 13 
SERMON II. 

FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

Psalm ix. 17. 

The wicked shall be turned into hell : and all the peo- 
ple that forget God 34 

SERMON III. 

CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

IMatthew xix. 20. 

What lack I yet ? 55 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

SERMON IV. 

THE SOURCE OF MAN's SUFFICIENCY. 

I 2 Corinthians iii. 5. 

Pagt 
Our sufficiency is of God 76 

SERMON V. 

THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT BEING OFFENDED IN 
CHRIST. 

Matthew xi. 6. 

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in . 
Me , . . 93 

SERMON VI. 

HOLINESS IN OURSELVES AND FORBEARANCE TO 
OTHERS. 

Mark ix. 50. 

Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with an- 
other 113 



SERMON VII. 

ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

Matthew xii. 36. 

I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall 
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day 
of judgment 132 



CONTENTS. IX 

SERMON VIIL 

CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

Malachi i. 6- 

Page 
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master : 
if then I be a Father, where is mine honor ? and 
if I be a IVIaster, where is my fear? saith the 
Lord of hosts 151 

SERMON IX. 

CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

Luke Lx. 62. 

And Jesus sai^ unto him, No man having put his hand 
to the plough, and looking back, is tit for the king- 
dom of God 172 

SERMON X. 

TRUSTFULNESS. 

Job xiii. 15. 
Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. . . . 192 

SERMON XI. 

ON SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

Romans viii, 6. 

To be carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritually 

minded is life and peace 212 



^ CONTENTS. 

SERMON XII. 

OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, HER MINISTERS, AND 
ORDINANCES. 

Hebrews xiii. 7, 8. 



Page 



Remember them .vhich have "e o™ you -;ho 
have spoken unto you the A\ onl ot Uo 

and for ever. 



SERMON XIIL 

ON ALMSGIVING. 
Matthew vi. 1. 



-rAi-tEstiS'=?a5^„ 



seen oi mem; uuicinv.ov. j^ - 
your Father ^Yhich is in heaven. 

SERMON XIV. 

ON PRAYER. 

Matthew vi. 5. 

When thou prayest, thou shalt no, he as the hj-pocrites ^_^ 

are 

SERMON XV. 

ON FASTING. 
Matthew vi. 17, 18. 

openly 



CONTENTS. XI 

SERMON XVI. 

ON SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS. 

Isaiah xxxii. 20. 

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters 309 

SERMON XVII. 

THE PROMISES AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 

(a sermon for all saints day.) 
Luke xiv. 22. 

And yet there is room "327 

SERMON XVIIL 

OF DYING DAILY. 
1 CoRIlsTHIANS XV. 31. 

I die daily 345 

SERMON XIX. 

THE END OF ALL THINGS. 

1 Peter iv. 7. 

The end of all things is at hand : be ye therefore sober, 

and watch iinto prayer 363 

SERMON XX. 



Luke xxiv. 29. 

But they constrained Him, saying. Abide with iis ; for 

it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. . . 382 



SERMON I 



SOWING AND HEAPING. 

HOSEA X. 12. 

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. 

We profess to call ourselves Christians. 
We acknowledge one Baptism for the re- 
mission of sins, we look for the resurrec- 
tion of the dead, and the life of the Avorld 
to come. We beheve that from Him, 
by Whose name we are called, emanates 
everything which can give us hope while 
we hve, and wliich can save us from de- 
spair when we come to die. In Him, so 
long as we continue in Him, we are safe ; 
apart from Hiai, our ruin is irrecoverable, 
irremediable. Of Him, and through Him, 
and to Him are all things. His life is 
our example ; His death our atonement ; 
His resurrection is our justification, and 
2 



14 SOWING AND REAPING. 

the seal of our acceptance ; His ascension 
is our assurance that we have an Advocate 
with the Father ; His promised return is 
our most awful warning, and highest en- 
couragement. In Jesus the Son of Mary, 
we see One made like unto ourselves in 
all things, sin alone excepted, the partaker 
of our infirmities, the sharer in our temp- 
tations, and sufferings, and sorrows : One 
"W^io can sympathize "with us, and feel for 
us ; Who can have compassion on the 
ignorant, and on them that are out of 
the way, as having Himself experienced 
the full weight and bitterness of every 
trial to which humanity can be exposed. 
In Christ the Son of God, we see One, 
Who being the brightness of the Father's 
glory, and the express image of His per- 
son, God of God, Light of Light, Very 
God of Very God, is as able as He is 
wilUng to save us all. He is our hope 
and our fortress, our castle and deliverer, 
our defender in Whom we trust : in Him, 
and Him alone that ti-ust is fixed ; and 
the grounds of that trust are His Incarna- 
tion and sinless fife ; His agony and bloody 
sweat ; His cross and passion ; His pre- 



SOWING AND REAPING. 15 

cious death, and glorious resurrection; 
His shedding abroad the gift of His Spirit, 
and His constant intercession in our be- 
half To us most miserable sinners, Christ 
is all in all, and the atoning sacrifice of 
the cross the one plea Ave can offer for 
final acceptance with God. 

If, then, we speak of the necessity there 
is that Christians should lead holy lives, 
or of the possibility of our performing true 
and laudable service, we never speak as 
implying the notion that any service of 
our's can be Qneritorious, or that any 
amount of personal holiness could entitle 
us to dai77i a place in heaven. It cost more 
to redeem our souls, so that we must leave 
that thousrht alone for ever. Rather must 
we bow our heads to the dust continually, 
under the reflection that so guilty were 
we that nothing but the blood-shedding of 
our God could save us, — rather, as we hft 
up our eyes, to that hill of Calvary from 
whence cometh our help, must our one 
thought be that of the immeasurable 
mercy of Him who took pity on us chil- 
dren of perdition, who could do nothing 



16 SOWING AND REAPING. 

for ourselves, but increase the burden of 
our guilt and rebellion. 

Such, I say, is our condition. In our- 
selves we can do nothing. To no works 
of our own can we trust for salvation. 
And yet the Bible, from one end to the 
other, — the New Testament as well as 
the Old, — is continually addressing us in 
language similar to that of the Prophet in 
the text, " Sow to yourselves in righteous- 
ness, reap m mercy." We look for the 
resurrection of the dead, and the life of 
the world to come, and admit that it will 
be through Christ's merits alone, if in tliat 
world to come, our lot is fixed in heaven, 
not in hell : and yet we profess our belief 
that at the last day we shall be severally 
judged for our actions, and our eternal 
destiny decided according as they have 
been good or evil. 

Now, as it must needs be of great im- 
portance that we should have clear and 
right views upon such a momentous sub- 
ject as this, let us see what tlie Word of 
God, as expounded and witnessed to by 
the Church, teaches with reference to the 
necessity of a hfe of righteousness on our 



SOWING AND REAPING. 17 

part, and as to the grounds on which a 
reward will be given to the righteous 
hereafter. 

The passage from which my text is 
taken, is a part of the writings of Hosea, 
whose denunciations against the trans- 
gressions of the chosen race are among 
the most severe which are to be found 
in the writings of the prophets, and there- 
fore are peculiarly well adapted for the 
meditation of us Christians among the 
Gentiles, who have been admitted into 
Christ's Holy CathoUc Church, and who, 
on that ground, are a " chosen genera- 
tion ;" but who, like Israel of old, have 
but too abundant reason to expect the 
outpourings of God's wrath on our wick- 
edness and spiritual idolatry. 

Among these predictions, however, of 
coming vengeance, will be found many 
invitations to repentance, and many pro- 
mises of mercy, such as the good Spirit 
of God hath ever blended with His most 
awful threatenings. And such is the 
passage under consideration. Even while 
the Almighty declares that it is in His de- 



18 " SOWING AND REAPING. 

sire to punish them, He reminds them of 
the gentleness He had heretofore shown 
them ; how, hke a husbandman with un- 
tried heifers, who encourages them, and 
gradually accustoms them to the yoke, 
He had endeavored to win them to obe- 
dience. And then He exhorts them to 
be no longer restive and refractory, but 
obedient and docile. " Sow to yourselves 
in righteousness, reap in mercy : break up 
your fallow ground : for it is time to seek 
the Lord, till he come and rain righteous- 
ness upon you." 

The illustration here chosen from the 
works of nature, as they are usually called, 
is common to many other parts of Scrip- 
ture : and the resemblance is so ob^ious 
between the progress of a seed from its 
first bemg committed to the soil, till the 
final harvest, with that of the gradual de- 
velopment of the principle of good in the 
soul of man, that I need not now stop to 
dwell upon it particularly. Suffice it to 
say, that in the passage before us the ex- 
hortation to repentance and a holy life is 
expressed under the metaphor of plough- 
ing and sowing, and the promise of mercy 



SOWING AND REAPING. 19 

is conveyed under a similar metaphor of 
rain upon the seed sown, and of reapmg 
a joyful harvest. 

We are told, then, in the first instance, 
to " sow m righteousness :" and what tliis 
injunction involves we may gather from 
a consideration of the state of those per- 
sons to whom it was originally addressed. 
These, as we have seen, were the House 
of Israel ; and when we remember that 
Hosea prophesied during the days of Uz- 
ziali, Jotham, Aliaz, and Hezekiah, kings 
of Judah, — that he was, in short, a con- 
temporary of Isaiah, we must, of course, 
remember likewise, that the transgressions 
both of Israel and Judah had then well 
nigh reached their height ; that they were 
*' a smful nation, a people laden wdth ini- 
quity, a seed of evil doers, children that 
were corrupters ;" who had " forsaken the 
Lord," revolting more and more, so that 
" the whole head was sick, and the whole 
heart faint ; and from the sole of the foot 
unto the head there was no soundness in 
it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying 
sores." 

Such being the state of God's favored 



20 SOWING AND REAPING. 

and rebellious people when they were 
enjoined to sow unto righteousness, it 
follows that that command implied no- 
thing short of a complete and entire 
change in all their ways and habits, — a 
thorough, unshrinking reformation, — an 
unqualified turning from sin to God. 

And nothing short of this is required of 
Its. It is to be hoped, that by God's great 
mercy, we have been so far preserved 
from breaking our baptismal vows, that 
none of us are in the actual state of open 
transgression, which they were, whom 
the prophet Hosea speaks of, as ha^'ing 
*' ploughed wickedness," and as being 
*' reapers of iniquity;*' but if at this time 
we are not harborinsr some cherished sin, 
it is to be presumed that there are few of 
us who, at some period or other, have not 
continued for a longer or a shorter space 
in deliberate and wilful transgression : all 
have to bewail an interminable catalogue 
of nesrliofences and isrnorances : and all 
have the evidence witliin tliemselves of 
an inherited nature so corrupt, that from 
the sole of the foot unto the head there is 
no soundness in it ; — of a nature in which 



SOWING AND REAPING. 21 

the flesh histeth always contrary to the 
spirit, and with which, even to the last, 
the spirit must make war. 

Now this "fallow ground," — this soil, 
so hard and sterile, or so rank and matted 
together with roots of noxious weeds, 
must be broken up. Our hearts, which, 
in spite of our baptismal privileges, retain 
within them their original infection, must 
be brought into a state of religious culti- 
vation. Vicious inclinations, sensual ap- 
petites, inordinate affections, must be 
rooted up. The tares must be gathered 
together in bundles, and burned. The 
soil must be ploughed ; — that which lay 
below must be brought up to the surface, 
and exposed to the light of day. Self- 
knowdedge and self discipline must do 
their work, and the whole field be made 
fit for the reception and growth of the 
seed of righteousness. 

And this if we do, the text leads us to 
hope that we shall reap in mercy ; that is 
to say, we shall receive from the merciful 
hand of God our Father, an abundant 
reward of unfading happiness, and glory- 
eternal in the heavens. 



22 SOWING AND REAPING. 

Here, then, is the broad fact laid down, 
that if we lead righteous lives here, dis- 
charging our duties to God and man. we 
shall certainly meet a reward hereafter. 
But since, when thus stated, it may seem 
to follow that our works are the immedi- 
ate cause of our salvation, I proceed to 
show you that the maintenance of any 
such opinion would be the most perilous 
and fatal error into u'hich ice could fall, 
and to explain in what sense the state- 
ment is true, and in what sense it is not. 

With this object in view I shall en- 
deavor to establish these two points : fn:st, 
that we have no grounds whatever to 
expect a harvest of mercy, without a pre- 
vious sowing-time of righteousness ; that 
is, that we must not hope for God's favor 
unless we fulfil what He has enjoined : 
and secondly, that when we have fulfilled 
what He has enjoined, we must not plead 
any merit of our own in having done so, 
but must look for the reward of our right- 
eousness only from the free grace and 
mercy of God. 

And now with regard to the first of 
these propositions. We shall not reap in 



SOWING AND REAPING. 23 

mercy, unless and until we have sown in 
righteousness. Without a holy life here, 
no man need expect or hope for a happy 
life hereafter. 

This is a truth which I need not mul- 
tiply quotation to establish. St. Paul 
distinctly assures us in his epistle to the 
Hebrews, " that without holiness no man 
shall see the Lord," and in his first letter 
to the Corinthians, he maintains the same 
doctrine with equal clearness. "Know 
ye not," saith he, " that the unrighteous 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 
Be not deceived : neither fornicators, nor 
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, 
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, 
nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit 
the kingdom of God." God is holy, and 
therefore His kingdom must be holy, and 
He mil admit nothing into His kingdom 
which is not holy. To expect to enter 
that without holiness, would be as absurd 
as for the husbandman to expect a har- 
vest, who has not tilled the ground, nor 
sown it with seed ; and so the Apostle 
whom I have already quoted declares to 



24 SOWING AND REAPING. 

ITS. "Be not deceived," he writes to the 
Galatians, " God is not mocked ; for what- 
soever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap. For he that soweth to the flesh, 
shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he 
that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit 
reap life everlasting." 

Surely if it be possible to state a truth 
plainly and unequivocally, it has been 
done so in the passage which I have 
quoted to you. One would have thought 
that in this case, at least, there could be 
no doubt as to the true meaning of Scrip- 
ture. And yet, even here, errors have 
arisen to darken and obscure the truth of 
God, for both the indolence and the pride 
of men have led them to de\dse some 
easier way of salvation than that wliich 
is offered in the Word of God ; and ac- 
cordingly, some have asserted that there 
is no necessity of righteousness in our- 
selves, since Christ's righteousness is 
cur's, so soon as we rely upon Him ; and 
others have taught that so as man fears 
hell, purposes amendment of Ufe, and 
confesses his sins to the priest, he is safe 
from perdition, and will reap in mercy. 



SOWING AND REAPING. 25 

tliough he has neglected to sow in riglit- 
eousness. 

The fact is, that if Ave look into the va- 
rious errors into which men have fcillen, 
on tlie subject of rehgion, we shall find 
that those errors spring, for the most part, 
from the spirit of convenience and self- 
indulgence. If a doctrine be unpalatable, 
it is denied ; or, if that be impossible, it 
is so qualified, or softened down, or ex- 
plained away, or thrown into the back 
ground, that practically it is rejected alto- 
gether, by those who oppose themselves 
to it, even though they admit that it is to 
be found in the Word of God. When 
men dare not attempt to kill the truth, 
they do what they can to starve it. And 
this they do, even while they know it to 
be the truth. When the reason is un- 
willingly convinced, it remains, so far as 
eflTects are concerned, unsatisfied still. A 
bare assent of the understanding is no 
guarantee for future exertion. Men may 
be abundantly convinced that they who 
would reap in mercy, must sow in right- 
eousness ; and yet, as hourly experience 
shows, it is no easy task to induce them 



26 SOWING AND REAPING. 

to deny all ungodliness, and worldly lusts, 
and to live soberly, righteously, and godly 
in this present world. They will, if they 
can, make reUgion easier to themselves 
than God has made it. 

And this consideration suggests a very 
awful thought. If those who admit the 
truth are so indisposed to obey it, what 
must be the case of those who allow 
themselves in principles which confound 
the distinctions of right and wrong: who, 
as the prophet says, '' call e^il good, and 
good evil, who put darkness for light, and 
light for darkness?" Of such persons it 
was that our Blessed Lord spake, when 
He declared, " If the light within thee be 
darkness, how great is that darkness V 
Of the peril of their condition the Apostle 
spake, when he warned Titus, that while 
to the pure all things are pure, yet " unto 
them that are defiled and unbelieving is 
nothing pure ; but even their mind and 
conscience is defiled. They profess that 
they know God ; but In works they deny 
Him, being abominable, and disobedient, 
and unto every good work reprobate." 

Such and so great being the perils of 



SOWING AND REAPING. 27 

those, who either reject God's command- 
ment, or who make it of none eflect, 
through their traditions, I trust that you, 
who assuredly cannot plead ignorance, 
will take good care that you be not con- 
demned hereafter, for dehberately resolv- 
ing not to act up to your convictions. 
The world may suggest a hundred rea- 
sons, besides its own evil and contagious 
example, why you should not obey the 
law of Christ in all its strictness ; and 
your own hearts may tempt you to listen 
to those who would teach you, that a 
seed-time of righteousness is not indis- 
pensable for those who would reap a har- 
vest of mercy. But let the world and 
your own hearts say what they will, do 
you believe Him Who made them both, 
and A\lio is coming to judge both ? For 
He, by the mouth of his Apostle, hath 
declared that in that day of wrath, and 
righteous judgment, '' He will render to 
every man according to Ms deeds. To 
them who, by patient continuance in well- 
doing, seek for glory and honor and im- 
mortahty, eternal life : but unto them 
that are contentious, and do not obey the 



28 SOWING AND REAPING. 

truth, but obey unrighteousness, indigna- 
tion and ^wath, tribulation and anguish, 
upon every soul of man that doeth evil.'' 

And now I must pass on to the last 
point to be considered, namely, that the 
reward of our service, if, as good hus- 
bandmen, we sow in righteousness, is 
not to be looked for of right, but as the 
giftofihe free Grace and Mercy of God. 

And really, to look at the matter in any 
other point of \dew seems so shocking to 
any well-regulated mind, wliich has learn- 
ed to measure its own deficiency and 
weakness, and has habitually watched 
the workings of its indwelhng corrup- 
tion, that it seems almost an offence 
against God to speak as though it were 
possible that any could so far deceive 
themselves as to imagine that an}"thing 
they could do would merit a reward. 

For what are we that we should boast ? 
A fallen race, outcasts from Paradise, 
born in sin, tainted, corrupted, defiled: 
owing our only chance of salvation to the 
free mercy of God, admitting us into 
covenant at Baptism, and requiring of us 
as our part of the covenant, that we 



SOWING AND REAPING. 29 

should keep His holy will and command- 
ments, and walk in the same all the days 
of our life ; and who, therefore, when we 
have done all, have only done what was 
required of us, and what we have en- 
gaged ourselves to do ; and who, in point 
of fact, never perform the hundred thou- 
sandth part of our duty in any one re- 
spect ! And who, in those points where- 
in we are not utterly deficient, owe our 
ability to the assistance and co-operating 
grace of God the Holy Ghost, as freely, 
as undeservedly vouchsafed to us, in or- 
der to give us a good will, and working 
with us when we have it. Who are we, 
that merit and we should ever be named 
together ; when every hour of every day 
is adding some item against us in those 
books from which we shall be judged at 
last ? AVlien even our best actions, when 
judged fairly by ourselves, must betray in 
them the corruption of mixed and worldly 
motives, and, therefore, before Him in 
whose sight the very angels are not pure, 
must be altogether sullied and defiled ? 

But granting our seed-time of right- 
eousness ever so perfect or so plenteous, 



30 SOWING AND REAPING. 

how is God the better for it, that He 
should be constrained to pay us wages 
for it? How can He be the better for 
us, — He who sitteth between the Cheru- 
bim, Infinite, Eternal, Almighty, undis- 
turbed by the madness of man, God over 
all, blessed for ever, disposing all things 
by the Word of His power, complete in 
His own perfections, and having need of 
nothing in the fruition and tranquilhty of 
heaven, which is calm, and deep, and 
measureless, unfading, unchanging, unal- 
loyed? What profit or advantage can 
we, or all the creatures that ever hved 
and died, be to him? No, brethren. His 
gracious intercourse with us, is not for 
His own sake, but for ours. Our worst 
rebellion hurts Him not, but ourselves, 
and our most devoted service is not to 
His advantage, but to our own. " If we 
sow in righteousness," as it has been well 
said, " we sow to ourselves, and the har- 
vest of this righteousness we ourselves 
reap." But granting, for a single mo- 
ment, and for argument's sake, that any 
acts of ours were such as could endure 
to be weighed in the balance before God, 



SOWING AND REAPING. 31 

with the view to their obtaining a de- 
served reward ; yet what proportion and 
comparison would there be between our 
works of righteousness and the expected 
reward? The service of a hfetime to 
merit an eternal weight of glory ! The 
partial obedience of divided allegiance to 
claim the recompense of a fulness of joy 
at God's right hand for ever! AVhy, 
there is presumption in the very mention 
of it ; and to hold such a doctrine were 
blasphemy ! 

I will conclude in the words of Bishop 
Bull, whose teaching and arguments I 
have followed in tliis discourse. 

" He that hath sown the seeds of right- 
eousness most plentifully, must look for 
his harvest of glory only from the mercy 
of God. He that is richest in good works 
must sue for heaven in the quahty of a 
poor worthless creature, that needs infi- 
nite mercy to bring him thither : mercy 
to pardon his sins antecedent to his good 
works ; mercy to forgive the sins and de- 
fects in his works ; mercy to advance his 
works to the possibihty of attaining an 
infinite and endless reward. He must 



32 SOWING AND REAPING. 

confess with St. Paul, that ' Eternal life 
is the gift of God through Jesus Christ' 
That it is the rich purchase of Christ's 
most precious blood, by which alone a 
covenant of eternal life was estabUshed 
upon the gracious condition of 'faith 
working by love :' that it was the grace 
of the Divine Spirit promised in the same 
covenant, that prevented him, and co- 
operated with him, and continually assist- 
ed and followed him in all his good works : 
and consequently, that though his crown 
of glory be 'a crown of righteousness,^ that 
is of God's righteousness, whereby He is 
obhged to make good his own covenant; 
yet that it is a crown of mercy too, because 
that covenant itself was a covenant of 
infinite grace and mercy." 

Here, then, is the sum of the whole 
matter. We shall never be saved for our 
works, but we shall never be saved with- 
out them. And knowing this, let us pray, 
and labor, and strive, that no day may 
pass over our heads Avithout our having 
made some progress in the work of sow- 
ing unto righteousness; let us watch 
ourselves the more carefully, the more 



SOWING AND REAPING. 33 

progress we make, lest any taint of self- 
righteousness should render our poor ser- 
vices hateful instead of acceptable to 
God : and while we cheerfully and hope- 
fully endeavor to work out our own sal- 
vation, as knowing that it is God which 
worketh in us both to will and to do, of 
his good pleasure ; let us cast away every 
liigh imagination, and own ourselves, as 
in truth we are, to be most wretched, and 
miserable, and worthless ; let our prayers 
of acceptance be ever couched in some 
such humble words as these, " God, for 
Thy dear Son's sake, be merciful to me 
a sinner !" 



SERMON IT. 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

Psalm ix. 17. 

The wicked shall be turned into hell: and all the people 
that forget God. 

It is to be feared that through our fami- 
liarity with the words of Scripture, we 
oftentimes lose the force of what those 
words contain, just as we are frequently 
tempted to repeat the prayers which we 
know by heart, without thmking of their 
meaning, or of Him whom we address. 
Not a day, it is to be presumed, goes 
over our heads but we repeat the Lord's 
Prayer, for instance, twice at least ; and 
yet who will say that this very habit of 
using the most perfect of all prayers so 
frequently, does not prove a snare to 
liim ; — that there are times in wliich, 
though he says the prayer, he does not 
pray, — that though he repeats the several 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 35 

clauses one after another, he attaches no 
meaning to them, so that he both wor- 
ships he knows not what, and asks he 
knows not what ? 

So again in another instance. I sup- 
pose if we had never heard it before, the 
gladdest tidings that ever fell upon our 
ears would be those in which is repeated 
to us so soon as we have made the gene- 
ral confession of our sins at the com- 
mencement of Divine Service, the de- 
claration that God has given power and 
commandment to the Ministers of His 
Holy Catholic Church to declare and 
pronounce to His people, being penitent, 
the absolution and remission of their 
sins. "Wliat comfort is here for the weary 
and heav}''-laden soul, over-burdened with 
a load of ^sins from the guilt and punish- 
ment of which it knows not how to es- 
cape ! And yet, because this message 
of mercy from our Heavenly Father is 
thus graciously delivered on each fresh 
occasion of our expressing contrition, we 
listen to it as a matter of course, and too 
often, it is to be feared, without being at 
all seriously affected, or moved by it. 



86 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

Now there have been those who, from 
theh experience that the mind is apt to 
grow inattentive to objects with which it 
is famihar, have condemned all forms of 
prayer, as tending to make men careless 
and indevout. Men cannot repeat the 
prayers which they have been in the habit 
of using from their youth up, without 
sometimes saying them mechanically, and 
thereby offending God, and perilHng their 
own souls ; and, therefore, these persons 
argue, that it is better to lay aside such 
services as those which, blessed be God ! 
we find prescribed for our use in our own 
branch of the Church Cathohc. 

Now (not to observe that where a min- 
ister and congregation are concerned, any 
prayer used by the former must be a form 
to the latter, whether it be read from a 
book or poured forth without premedita- 
tion) — I would just remark that this 
argument, if it proves anything, proves 
too much. If we are to lay aside the re- 
petition of a well-known prayer because 
there is danger that our familiarity with it 
may make us heedless, we may, upon the 
same ground, give up the habit of reading 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. £9 

the Bible, for there is jiist the same risk 
that the more intimate we are with its con- 
tents, the more we may lose the sense 
of awe and reverence with which we 
always ought to peruse it. 

How much better would it be, if in- 
stead of bewildering themselves with 
such a fallacy as this, people would learn 
to suspect themselves, and endeavor to 
ascertain whether the blame may not 
rather rest on their own shoulders than 
in the quarter where they are disposed to 
throw it ! It is, of course, much pleasant- 
er to find faults anywhere rather than in 
ourselves ; and it is no easy matter to get 
the mastery over our indolence and way- 
wardness ; but the way of safety is a way 
of difficulties. 

When, therefore, we find that formal- 
ism begins to attend our prayers, we had 
better look to ourselves, before we con- 
demn the prayers. And this if we do, 
we shall, by God's mercy, be led to find 
the true causes of our indevotion, to guard 
against them, and to make the discovery 
that since prayer is as much a habit 
as anything else, he who prays the mo^t 

3 



40 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

will pray the best ; and, as he "vvho con- 
fines liimself to one branch of a business 
will be a better workman than he w^ho 
attends to several, so he who uses the 
^ame forms of prayer continually, will 
ciitrr into their spirit better than he who, 
iji liis constant search after novelty, thinks 
more of himself than of God. 

And now to apply what has been said 
to the passage to which I w^ould call your 
attention. The text conveys a great and 
awful truth ; but it is a truth which is so 
continually repeated in every part of 
Scripture, and to which, therefore, our 
niinds are so habituated, that we hear it, 
perhaps, without thinking more about it, 
tiian, admitting the doctrine generally, we 
contrive to satisfy our minds that the 
threatening does not apply to us, and that, 
terrible as the denunciation is, there are 
other parts of Scripture, in wliich the fu- 
ture doom of transgressors is more \ividly 
and strikingly depicted. 

This, or something like it, is probably 
the reflection that occurs to us, w^hen the 
passage is read in the ordinary course of 
the Psalms, if we ai'e allowing ourselves 



FOROETFULNESS OF GOD. 41 

ill that careless state of niind which I have 
been condeiiiiiing. 

And yet tliere is a consideration con- 
nected with this text, wliich is enough to 
make even the most advanced Christian 
to fear and tremble when it occurs to 
him. 

If, in David's day, when men were 
under the law, and had no promise of the 
abiding presence of the Holy Ghost the 
Comforter to " teach them all things, and 
bring all things to their rcmcmhrance^' it 
was a known and recognized truth that 
they who forgat God should be turned 
into hell what fate must they expect, 
who having been admitted into the 
Church by Baptism, and having, there- 
fore, the assurance that the Spirit dwelleth 
in them, do yet fail to remember their 
Creator, Eedeemer, and Sanctifier? Is 
it possible to find any excuse for those 
w^ho are forgetful, merely because they 
will not apply to the Remembrancer, 
who is within them, — for those who have 
^' the anointing which they have received 
of Him, abiding in them," and who there- 
fore "need not that any man teach them," 



42 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD, 

(that is, require, in this respect, no out- 
ward aids), seeing they have the Witness 
in themselves? Is it possible that for- 
getfulness, — so often alleged as an ex- 
cuse under sudden temptation — can in 
their case be anything else but an adding 
of sin to sin ? 

Now let us take this view of the text, 
arid see what lessons and warnings it 
may bring home to our hearts and con- 
sciences. 

" The wicked shall be turned into hell ; 
and all the people that forget God." We 
admit the fact ; but we ward off, as it 
were, the blow which seems threatening 
to fall on ourselves, who, we trust, are not 
among the openly and notoriously wick- 
ed, by assuming that those who "forget 
God" altogether are few m number, and 
we have the testimony of conscience that 
we ourselves are not of that number. 
We do not remember God as much as 
we ought, but still we do not forget Him. 

Now in one sense this is quite true. I 
believe that no one who has once heard of 
God can forget Him, even if he desire it 
ever so much. A man may apostatize from 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 43 

the faith, and fall so low, that like the fool 
of whom the Psalmist speaks, " He may 
say in his heart, There is no God." But 
think you that this will banish the 
thought of God from his mind ? Think 
you that memory will fail when invited 
to do so ? That oblivion is an act of vo- 
lition ? Or that conscience can be lulled 
to sleep when we will ? No, we can no 
more escape the sound of its small stern 
voice, than Ave can, by a wish, stop the 
brain from exercising its functions, or de- 
stroy our sensibihty to pain. A man may 
deny God, and resolve to forget Him. He 
can do the one, but the other is beyond 
his power : the devils themselves, they 
who have more power than man, and 
more cause why they should strive to 
keep the thought of God from their 
hearts, cannot do it ; and for man to do it, 
is impossible. He may exclude himself 
from everything outward which may 
suggest the remembrance to his mind ; he 
may go far, very far in unbelief: he may 
almost persuade himself to be an infidel. 
Almost, not quite. And the one thought 
which comes creeping in unbidden, when 



44 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

he is off his guard, that after all there 
'may be a God, is enough to drive sleep 
from his pillow. It may not be proba- 
ble ; it may be barely possible. But so 
long as that shadow of a chance is not got 
rid of, farewell to peace. And get rid of 
it he cannot. The thought of it robs him 
of his armor wherein he trusted, and 
comes upon him when he cannot escape 
from it, hke that terrible \dsion which 
haunted the couch of the afflicted Patri- 
arch : " In thoughts from the "^dsions of 
the night, when deep sleep falleth on 
men. Fear came upon me, and trembling, 
which made all my. bones to shake. 
Then a spirit passed before my face ; the 
hair of my flesh stood up : It stood still, 
but I could not discern the form there- 
of: an image Avas before mine eyes, there 
was silence and I heard a voice, saying, 
" Shall mortal man be more just than 
God ? Shall a man be more pure than 
his Maker?" 

But, my brethren, if even the professed 
Infidel, he who pretends to beUeve that 
there is no God, is still in spite of him- 
self, unable to forget Him, the mere pro- 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 45 

fligate and worldly-minded man is even 
less able to do so. True, God is not in 
all his thoughts : but He is in some of 
them. And the remembrance of an of- 
fended Judge, whose wrath is as sure as 
it is irresistible, will inevitably come be- 
tween such a person and his guilty plea- 
sures. I do not say that long habits of 
sin will not deaden the voice of con- 
science, and cause the Holy Spirit to 
strive less and less \vith the guilty soul, 
but even in the most hardened there will 
be seasons when, do what it may, it can- 
not escape from forebodings of God^s 
anger, and of the worm that dieth not. 
And we have the evidence of many a 
transgressor to the fact, that when all he 
most desired was in his reach — the grati- 
fication of his lust, his covetousness, his 
pride, his malice, or his dishanesty, — still, 
in the moment of fruition, the power of 
enjoyment was taken away, by that 
small voice which bade him think of the 
future consequences of his act. " There 
is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. ' 
It appears then, that in one sense, even 
the most ungodly man alive does not for- 



46 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

get God. The text, therefore, mu.st apply 
to something short of total forgetfulness : 
and if it does, then there is very good 
cause why it should set us upon examin- 
ing ourselves ; for although it is evident 
that even if we would, we could not alto- 
gether forget God, it is nevertheless much 
to be feared that none of us remember 
Him as we ought to do. 

Now which be they who can be said 
to forget God ? I answer, all those who 
do not habitualli/rememhei: Him ; who do 
not make it their Jirst object on every oc- 
casion to learn how He would have them 
act ; who do not take His law for a lan- 
tern to their feet and a Mght unto their 
paths ; and who do not make obedience 
to His will the rule of their existence, as 
conscious that He is near them and sees 
them at all times. 

And such persons may be found among 
those who are in the world's opinion de- 
cent and respectable, whose morals are 
unexceptionable, and who are diligent in 
attendance on all the outward ordinances 
of the Church. 

For uistance, a man may be regular in 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 47 

his daily prayers at home, regular in fre- 
quenting public worship ; and yet if he 
does this as a mere form, uttering words 
with his hps, while his heart, and soul, 
and affections are occupied with some- 
tiling else, and thus insulting Him, whose 
long-suffering has borne with his mani- 
fold transgressions, and whose bountiful 
goodness has given him life and health, 
and all things, what can be said of such 
an one but that he '' forgets God ?" And 
in proportion as any of us give way to 
this temptation, do we involve ourselves 
in the condemnation pronounced in the 
text. 

So again, the man who is afraid of do- 
ing what he knows to be right, lest he 
should incur the ridicule of the world, 
and be set down as weak-minded, and 
bigoted, and enthusiastic : or he who does 
what is right, but professes to do so on 
other grounds than because he desnes to 
serve God, is not he one who has forgot- 
ten that the Lord his God is a jealous 
God? Has he not reason to apply to 
himself that fearful threat, " Whosoever 
shall be ashamed of me and of my words 
3* 



48 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

in this sinful and adulterous generation, 
of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, 
when He cometh in the glory of His 
Father with the Holy angels?" Now 
seeing that as there are various man- 
ners of commitling this sin, so there 
are various degrees of guilt attaching 
thereto, it will be well for each of us 
to ascertain that we have in this respect 
altogether escaped the crime of forgetting 
God. And when we remember the 
compromises men make with their con- 
sciences, and their cowardly contrivances 
for escaping the charge of being righteous 
overmuch ; when we reflect with what 
sensitiveness we shrink from any step 
which seems Hke opposition to the way 
of the world, have we not cause for 
apprehension, lest we may have, in a 
greater or lesser measure, denied our 
Lord? 

Again ; what shall be said of those who 
act habitually as though they were un- 
mindful of the attributes of God ? of His 
all-seeing eye, and fatherly hand ? of His 
power, and purity, and truth, and mercy, 
and justice ? of those who comfort them- 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 49 

selves with the profane, kreverent thought 
that He is even such an one as them- 
selves, and that therefore He will sacri- 
fice one attribute to another, be merciful 
at the expense of His justice, or sacrifice 
His truth to His tender compassion ? Are 
not such persons forgetful of God, of 
what He is, and who He is ? And are 
not each of us liable to fall into the same 
condemnation, whereinsoever we indulge 
the thought that He will appear on the 
Judgment seat, under a difierent charac- 
ter from that in which He has revealed 
Himself to us in the Bible ? 

From what has been said, you will, I 
think, perceive, that it is no imaginary 
and unreal danger, against which I would 
put you on your guard, but one that is 
constant, urgent, and the more insidious, 
because less suspected. We all profess 
to beheve in God, and to serve Him. 
We are really subjects of His kingdom, 
and members of his Church, in posses- 
sion of singular advantages, and inesti- 
mable privileges. Nominally, we are hv- 
ing as if we appreciated them ; but the 
peril to us all is, lest we should be self- 



50 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

deceived, and (like the Jews of old time, 
who called themselves children of Abra- 
ham, while they would not do his works) 
persuade ourselves that we remember 
God, as He expects us to remember Him, 
when, in point of fact, we have only just 
not forgotten Him utterly. 

But, as I have already reminded you 
in the opening of this discourse, anything 
approacliing to forgetfulness of God is a 
far more heinous offence in us, than in 
those of whom Daidd spake in the text. 
Unto whom much is given, of him will 
much be required. From the moment 
when we are incorporated by Baptism 
into the body of Clirist, we are no longer 
in the condition in which we were by 
nature. Li ourselves, as well after Bap- 
tism as before, we are helpless creatures : 
but in Baptism we receive the gift of an 
indwelling grace to enable us to serve 
and please God. We are, therefore, with- 
out excuse if we forget Him. The Holy 
Spirit was poured into our hearts in order 
that we should not forget Him. It is His 
office to bring all thuigs to our remem- 
brance, both as to what we should do, 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD 51 

and what we should avoid. The more 
we obey His suggestions, the more acute 
will become our sense of obedience : the 
more we try to remember, the more en- 
tirely will he preserve us from forgetting. 
At all times, and under all circumstances, 
He is ready to assist us, to strengthen us 
in our weakness, and aid us in the strug- 
gle with ourselves, the world, and our 
spiritual enemies. 

We are liable to sudden temptations, 
and in their suddenness, to many of us, 
at least, consists their danger: but it is 
under these sudden temptations that the 
aid of the Holy Ghost, honestly sought, 
is seen to be most strikingly effectual. 
The more urgent our need, the greater 
is the strength He vouchsafes. There- 
fore, if, under sudden temptation, we fall, 
it is a grievous thing, because there was 
help at hand which might haye saved us; 
but when we have fallen, to plead forget- 
fulness as an excuse, is only adding sin 
to sin, nay, rather offering a direct insult 
to the Majesty of God, seeing that it is 
tantamount to an avowal on our part that 
the Eternal Spirit — (I am almost afraid 



52 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

of saying such a tiling) either could not 
or would not help us, or else that we de- 
spised His assistance. 

I trust that what has now been said 
will induce you to think very seriously of 
the consequences of excusing yourselves 
in sin of any kind ; for to plead forgetful- 
ness is, in fact, an admission from your 
own hps, that you have forgotten God, 
and the text declares that they who for- 
get Him shall be turned into hell. "We 
have a corrupt nature ; we are in the 
midst of an evil world ; we are surround- 
ed v/ith bad examples. All these things 
are against us. But, as baptized Christians, 
we are the temples of God, and God's Spi- 
rit dwelleth in us, and therefore all excuses 
for sin are taken away. It is our own fault, 
if we are not enabled to stand upright. 

Since, then, these things are so, let us 
look well into our hearts and see whether 
we habitually remember God, or habitu- 
ally forget Him. A^Tiat it is to forget 
Him, I have shown you. To remember 
Him is to devote ourselves to His service : 
to do all we have to do as in his presence, 
to speak as in His hearing ; to regulate 



FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 53 

our thoughts, as knowing that unto Him 
all hearts are open, and desires known? 
and that from Him no secrets are hid. 
It is to make " the one thing needful" the 
absorbing object of our hopes and inter- 
ests, the gauge by which all our worldly 
affairs are tested and measured, the rule 
of our occupations and pursuits. To re- 
member God is to live in watchfulness, 
and prayer, and self-denial. It is to have 
a love, that loves nothing more than Him, 
and a fear, that fears nothing but what 
offends Him. It is to have our minds so 
full of Him, as that when they are un- 
occupied with the necessary duties of our 
daily calling, instead of being filled with 
vanity and frivolity, they naturally and 
habitually fall back upon Him, His per- 
fections and attributes. 

This it is to remember God, and with 
less than this He will not be satisfied. 
But if he sees us honestly endeavor- 
ing to attain to this, He will take us by 
the hand, and lead us from strength to 
strength. Remembering Him in our 
youth, devoting to Him those years when 
the enemy is strongest, and danger great- 



54 FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

est, He will not forget us through the 
course of our after existence. The ear- 
lier we seek Him, the sooner we shall 
find Him ; the more earnestly we strive 
to do His will, the better we shall know 
it ; the more we dread a fall, the more 
shall we be enabled to keep our footing ; 
the more we avail ourselves of the grace 
given us, the larger will be the supphes 
conceded us. We shall be brought on 
our way rejoicing ; shall be supported in 
dangers, and carried through tempta- 
tions ; and when at length we have 
fought the good fight of faith, and death 
is about to release us from our warfare, we 
may trust in humble confidence through 
our Redeemer's merits, that in spite of 
our innumerable deficiencies, we may 
hear the Judge's pardoning voice in that 
tremendous hour, when "the wicked 
shall be turned into hell, and all the peo- 
ple that forget God." 



SERMON III. 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

Matthew xix. 20. 
What lack I yet ? 

There is, I trust, no danger that any 
whom I now address are hving under 
the fearful mistake of supposing that to 
lead a pious hfe is to merit that reward 
of eternal happiness in heaven, to which 
all of us, with greater or less fervency, 
aspire, as the termination of our prospects 
beyond the grave. None of you, I am 
sure, can have so far mistaken the doc- 
trines taught by your spiritual pastors, as 
to have attributed the earnestness, with 
which they have pressed on you the ne- 
cessity of a life of good works, to any be- 
hef on their parts, that good works could 
put away our sins, and endure the severity 
of God's judgment. You all know that 



56 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

we are accounted righteous before God 
only for the merit of our Lord and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ, by Faith, and not of 
our own works and deservings ; and that 
although good works are as sure a test of a 
hvely Faith, as the quality of the fruit is a 
token of the nature of the tree, and are, 
therefore, indispensable, yet in themselves 
they are valueless. 

Of this fundamental point of our 
Church's teaching, the least mstructed 
of you cannot be ignorant ; and, there- 
fore, at present, I need not dwell on it 
further than to say, that were any such 
errors prevalent among us, the narrative 
of which the text forms a part, would af- 
ford a lesson of deep and salutary warn- 
ing against them. 

" Good master," said the young Ruler 
of whom the Evangelist speaks, to our 
Blessed Lord, " what good thing shall I 
do, that I may have eternal life ?" " If 
thou wilt enter into hfe," was the reply, 
"keep the commandments. He saith 
unto Him, Which? Jesus said, Thou 
shalt do no murder ; thou shalt not com- 
mit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ; thou 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 57 

shalt not bear false witness ; honor thy 
father and thy mother; and thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself The young 
man saith unto Him, All these things 
have I kept from my youth up : what 
lack I yet ? Then Jesus beholding him, 
loved hiai, and said unto him, One thing 
thou lackest ; if thou wilt be perfect, go 
and sell that thou hast, and give to the 
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
heaven; and come, take up the cross 
and follow me. But when the young 
man heard that saying, he went away 
sorroAvful ; for he had great possessions." 
Now, doubtless, this young Ruler, so 
far as he knew his own heart, believed 
himself to be quite honest and sincere in 
his professions, and that he was ready to 
go as far as any one in God's service : 
certainly he had done his best, according 
to his own standard, to keep God's com- 
mandments, and, therefore, he will rise 
up in judgment against many who now 
think disparagingly of him : unquestiona- 
bly he was in the eyes of his contempo- 
raries an eminently strict and pious man. 
He wished to do right. Young though 



58 CHRISTIAN TROGRESS. 

he was in years, he had got the better of 
those feehngs which so often ahenate tlie 
young from God. He had not forgotten 
his Creator : he was not ashamed of re- 
Hgion : he was not afraid of- the ridicule 
and raillery of companions, who might 
have endeavored to persuade him that 
youth is the season for indulging instead 
of disciphning the appetites ; and for 
pampering, instead of mortifying the flesh 
Avith its affections and its lusts. 

He who knew what was in man, — the 
Lord and Maker of all, saw these promis- 
ing dispositions, and this growing consci- 
entiousness, and therefore (even though 
he was as yet a great way off from the 
truth) we are told that " He loved him" — 
loved him so well as to invite him under 
certain conditions to become, as it should 
seem, an apostle. " Come and follow me." 

However, he was first to be tried. And, 
in His love and mercy, the Saviour tried 
him in the very point where self-know- 
ledge was most needful to him, by apply- 
ing a test which showed this Ruler what, 
as yet, he httle suspected, — the deceitful- 
ness and the weakness of his own heart. 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 59 

The young man had professed that 
from his early years he had " loved his 
neighbor as himself." "Do you really 
know the force of what you are saying ?" 
— (such seems to be the general bearing 
of our Lord's remarks). " Have you ever 
seriously thought how much is involved 
in the command that you should love 
your neighbor as yourself? Now, I will 
put you to the trial in one point only : 
are you ready to sell all your goods, and 
give up your great possessions, in order 
that, from the proceeds, you may feed 
the hungry, clothe the naked, and minis- 
ter to the wants of your poorer neigh- 
bors?" 

No. The young man was unable to 
make so great a sacrifice. He loved his 
ease, his comforts, his luxuries, and where 
they were not mterfered with, he could 
find pleasure in the discharge of his duties 
to God and man. But these comforts 
were his weak points ; and the moment 
they were put in jeopardy his good inten- 
tions faded away. He was dutiful only 
so long as duty and incHnation did not 
clash; and herein he may serve as a 



60 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

warning to us all. When called upon to 
deny himself and follow Christ, he went 
away; and though it is added that he 
went away " sorrowful/' still he went. It 
was a grievous sin, and a throwing away 
of an opportunity which many of the 
Saints of God would have given worlds, 
if they possessed them, to have had with- 
in their reach. Yet, if his sorrow was of 
that godly kind " that worketh repentance 
to salvation, not to be repented of," he 
must have been brought at last to the re- 
flection, that as his obedience was now 
proved to be imperfect, and he had come 
short of the strictness of God's law in 
respect to this particular of lo^dng his 
neighbor as well as himself, so the pre- 
sumption was that in every other point 
of duty he was deficient, and thus he 
w^ould be taught his need of a Saviour, 
as he had already been taught where to 
find one. 

Now, brethren, if, as I have aheady 
said, there were any of us who were 
blindly trusting in ourselves, and lean- 
ing on the broken reed of our ow^n righte- 
ousness, we should soon stand self-con- 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 61 

demned, if we were to apply the incidents 
of the history we have been considering, 
to our own case ; but fechng satisfied that 
you are not indulging in any such dan- 
gerous self-deceit, as that of supposing 
that any actions of yours are untainted 
by imperfections ; or (granting them ever 
so perfect) that they are deserving of re- 
ward, I shall make a different use of the 
words of the text, and apply them to 
eUcit an answer from the consciences of 
everyone of us, wherein we are most 
deficient of that standard of holiness, at 
which our blessed Lord commanded his 
followers to aim, when he gave the in- 
junction, " Be ye perfect, even as your 
Father which is in heaven is perfect." 

I do not, however, now address myself 
to the openly and deliberately wicked, — 
to those who are living in open sin and 
•wilful renunciation of their Baptismal 
vows, and who, if our Church had not lost 
her ancient discipline, would be cut off 
from companionship with the faithful till 
they had repented of their transgressions. 
If; unhappily, I am addressing any who 
are in the habitual neglect of prayer, or 



62 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

who are little better than heathen men 
ill their respect of God's name, or day, 
or house, or Sacraments, — who are guilty 
of profaneness, sensuahty, or any other 
deadly sin, it is not to them that I am 
about to put my present inquiries. 

I can only speak of them with sorrow 
and dismay, as of persons who have " no 
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and 
of God." And if, like the young Ruler 
in the Gospel, they should propose (what 
in their case would be) the awfully pre- 
sumptuous question, "What lack I yet ?" 
I can, alas, find no answer for them but 
this, that they lack everything^ and that 
while they suppose that they " have need 
of nothing," they are " wretched, and 
miserable, and poor, and bhnd, and na- 
ked." They are very far from tlie king- 
dom of God. 

But, if there be those among us (and 
such there may well be) who, like him of 
whom we have been speaking, " worsliip- 
ping Christ," and " loved of Him," and 
obeying His commandments with honest 
purpose, however imperfectly, from their 
youth up, are yet painfully conscious of 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 63 

their many deficiencies ; to them I will 
apply the words of the text, though in 
such a manner, as will, I trust, encourage 
them to increased and cheerful exertions, 
rather than dishearten them under a de- 
spairing and paralyzing sense of their 
helplessness and guilt. 

In the question then. "What lack I 
yet ?" How far am I " walking worthy 
of the Lord unto all pleasing ?" I would 
have each one of you ask his heart how 
far he has been enabled to keep the vows 
which were made in his behalf at Holy 
Baptism, and what has hitherto been his 
growth in grace : what mastery he has 
gained over his corrupted nature, and 
besetting sins : and what those several 
points are, in which he feels himself to be 
most defective, and has most ground to 
recover, and wherein he must use re- 
doubled exertions to walk worthy of the 
vocation wherewith he is called. 

In order to judge accurately of that 
standard of perfection which God is 
pleased to set forth as the model of 
our imitation, we must refer, not to the 
opinions and language of the world 
4 



64 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

around us, but to His own Word. He 
has set forth His Eternal Son, the Head 
of the Church, — as the example which 
the members of His body are to follow. 
No loAver standard, no, not that of the 
purest Saint or the highest Angel, will be 
sufficient. If we follow them it must only 
be as they followed Christ. Doubtless, 
it may seem easier and pleasanter to take 
for our pattern of imitation something 
which we think attainable without any 
very great difficulty. Doubtless, we often 
give ourselves credit for our humihty, 
when, devoid of envy, w^e say of some 
one, whom we suppose to be further ad- 
vanced in holiness than ourselves, " Ah ! 
if ever I could arrive at such a pitch of 
excellence, as such or such a person, I 
should be content." 

And very probably we should: but God 
has given us another standard of perfec- 
tion ; and though He has never taught us 
to believe that we shall reach it. He has 
enjoined that our lives shall be spent in 
trying to do so. With nothing less than 
tliis will He be satisfied : at nothing less 
than this must we aim. 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 65 

And this caution is the more requisite, 
because we live in times when party- 
feehng in matters of faith is apt to create 
false standards of religion. It was our 
Lord's injunction to his followers, " Call 
no man your father upon the earth : for 
one is your Father, which is in heaven :" 
but this is a command, which is, I fear, 
practically forgotten by a great many per- 
sons. They look to what is said or done, 
or reported to be said or done, by the 
leaders of the party they have chosen, and 
beyond this they do not look, and so are, 
of course, led to judge of their own con- 
dition, and of that of their neighbors, by 
the same process of reasoning which 
insured to the Pharisees a character of 
holiness, because they made long prayers, 
and gave their alms in public. 

It was right to make prayers : it was 
right to give alms : but religion did not 
consist in these things only. And so 
among ourselves. " It is very common 
for Christians," as has been truly said, 
*^ to make much of what are but petty 
ser\'ices: first, to place the very substance 
of religion in a few meagre observances, 



C6 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

or particular moral precepts which are 
easily complied with ; and then to make 
a great vaunting about their having done 
what in truth every one who is not a mere 
child in Christ ought to be able to do ; to 
congratulate themselves on their success, 
to condemn others who do not happen to 
move exactly along the very same line of 
minute practices in detail which they 
have adopted; and in consequence, to 
forget that, after all, by such poor obedi- 
ence, right though it be, still they have 
not approached even to a distant view of 
that point in their Christian course, at 
which they may consider themselves, in 
St. Paul's words, to have ' attained' a sure 
hope of salvation." 

If then, such persons propose the in- 
quiry, "What lack I yet?'' an answer 
might be given to them which would 
show the real extent of their deficiencies, 
and prove them to be in a very different 
state from that in which the spirit of self- 
deceit would place them. That they may 
have made soine progress in the way to 
heaven may be reasonably hoped ; but 
that they have not advanced as far as they 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 67 

might have done is e^-ident. An advanc- 
ed Christian makes no talk about him- 
self, and least of all, does he draw any 
comparison between himself and others, 
except to his own disadvantage. 

I have warned you against referring to 
any other standard than your Bible, — to 
any other example than that of Christ, for 
yonr model of imitation : and I would 
now further impress upon you that when 
you make the inquiry, "What lack I 
yet ?" you must be guided to your an- 
swer, not by the state of your rehgious 
feelings, but by a strict review, and an 
unshrmking self-examination, whether or 
not you can trace in yourselves a steady 
progi'ess in the true life of the Spirit, a 
gradual maturing and ripening of the fall 
fruit of hohness. 

There is, in fact, no criterion so httle 
to be trusted, no beacon more likely to 
mislead us, in estimating our Christian 
progress, than arguments drawn from the 
state of our religious feehngs. Rehgion 
does not consist in excitement, but in 
action : and as it by no means follows 
that acts will follow excitement, so neither 



68 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

is it to be supposed that excitement is a ne- 
cessary accompaniment of action. Dif- 
ferent men are constituted differently. 
Some have acute feelings, some have not. 
Some are more easily affected than others. 
No man who is in earnest, but will have 
some natural fervor — a fervor which must 
be trained, not repressed. It is not the 
duty of a Christian to repress it ; indeed, 
without it, he could scarcely, perhaps, 
keep himself in the way of duty. He 
will have, as the Psalmist had, " delight'* 
in the law of righteousness, warm indig- 
nation against the disobedient, sorrow 
with tears for the perverseness of those 
who love not the truth : but still this 
fervor will vary in intensity in different 
constitutions, even though it be a fervor 
of affection, and not of passion. And, 
therefore, it is conceivable that a man 
may discharge his daily duties to God, 
without his being sensible to himself of 
any very lively emotions within him ; his 
heart and feelings may appear to himself 
cold and unex cited, and yet this may not 
arise from unbehef; but from Ms natural 
temperament of mind. And on the other 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 69 

hand, there is a state of religious excite- 
ment which may seem to give hfe and 
vigor to the soul, and be a token of the 
special favor of the indwelling Spirit, but 
which all the while is of no more real 
value, than are the pale and chilly moon- 
beams in ripening our harvests, and bring- 
ing our fruit to perfection. 

In frames and feehngs there is always 
the risk of some delusion, but there is no 
mistaking the good works which spring 
from a lively faith. " Ye shall know 
them by their fruits'^ This is the only 
safe criterion by which we can judge 
either of others, or of ourselves. And if, 
day by day, we look into our actions, and 
see that the daily duties, be they httle, or 
be they great, are watchfully performed, 
as in God's, the Judge's, presence, and as 
becomes men for whom Christ died ; if 
we know by the pain the struggle costs 
us, that out of our reverence to Christ's 
commands, evil thoughts and e^il tem- 
pers are struggled with, and controlled so 
soon as they arise : if we are meek and 
patient and forgiving ; pure and self- 
denymg ; true, and honest, and dihgent 



70 CHLISTIAN PROGRESS. 

in our calling, because we know that 
Christ would have us so. If we are 
these things, not by fits and starts, now 
watchful, and now careless ; beginning 
the month or the year well, but forgetting 
our resolutions before its close, — if we 
are steadfast and unmovable, abounding 
in the work of the Lord, as knowing that 
our labor is not in vain in the Lord ; if 
we persevere in spite of difficulties, mak- 
ing fresh and fresh advances to perfection, 
and yet all the while confessing ourselves 
unprofitable servants, — if, I say, we have 
this sort of evidence as to the character 
of our lives, we have good hope that we 
cannot be deceived as to our real position 
in the sight of God ; there is no danger 
of our dreaming on through years of self- 
deceit and self satisfaction, to awake at 
last — 'n hell ! 

And now let each of us fairly put the 
question to himself, Wherein am I still 
deficient, " What lack I yet ?" If we 
have read our Bible aright, if we have 
listened to the teaching of the Church, 
we know that our whole life should be a 
continual advance in holiness, and pro- 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 71 

gress towards perfection. We are never 
to fancy that we have attained to that de- 
gree of righteousness which is sufficient 
In this sense no degree of righteousness 
is sufficient, because if there be yet a 
higher step which we might gain but do 
not, that omission of our's is an offence 
in God's sight, and there is no offence 
against Him but may peril our salvation. 
We must beware, then, of all which n:cy 
hinder or impede our progress. To halt, 
to look back, to slumber, are but so many 
tokens of impending ruin. To halt is to 
run the risk of the waves overwhelming 
us ; to look back before we have reached 
the mountain's top, is to be consumed, or 
to stand motionless for ever; and to slum- 
ber, is to let the bridegroom go by to the 
wedding feast, and shut to the door. Let 
us, therefore, beware of mistaking words 
and professions for Christian Faith, and 
of confounding good feelings with good 
works ; and further, let us bew^are of 
another error no less perilous; that, 
namely, of trusting to outward forms, and 
setting httle store by the inward spirit. 
We are Christ's soldiers, and, as fight- 

4* 



72 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

ing under His banner, our duty is not 
only not to lose heart, but to press for- 
ward and gain more ground continually. 
There is no safety for us but in victory, 
no resting-place but the grave. Are we 
hving in this belief? Are we winning 
our way forward? What fruits of the 
Spirit have we to show ? What lack we 
yet? 

It is not necessary that I should go 
through the various points of Christian 
duty, and ask you with reference to each, 
how far you have attained unto the dili- 
gent discharge of them. This can be 
done better by your own consciences 
than by my lips. But as each one of us 
knows that there is a sad record against 
him of things both done and undone, so 
each of us knows too, at this very mo- 
ment, the particular points wherein we 
7mg]it have attained to greater hohness 
than we have yet done. One of us, per- 
haps, knows that he might have put more 
effectual control on a hasty temper ; an- 
other, that he might have been less ready 
to think evil of his neighbor; a tliird, 
that he might have been more careful 



CHRISTIAN PHOGRESS. 73 

and exact in speaking the truth ; one 
might have been less proud ; another less 
envious ; another more chaste in thought 
or word ; another more industrious, or 
more regular. Some might have given up 
more leisure to prayer, or more money 
to alms-deeds. Some might have fasted 
and denied themselves more strictly. 
Some might have prepared themselves 
better for the Holy Communion. Some 
might have come more frequently to 
Church ; and some might have been 
more devout when there. 

Examine yourselves in such points as 
these, and then you will have but httle 
difficulty in ascertaining where further 
progress is needful. 

But then, having ascertained this point, 
we must not sit down with our hands be- 
fore us, awed at the thought of the httle 
advance we have made in our heaven- 
ward course, in proportion to what might 
have been expected of us ; on the con- 
trary, we must reflect that the need is so 
much the more for instant and increased 
exertion. If ever, hitherto, we have per- 
suaded ourselves that it Avas possible to 



74 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 

stand still, yet, now at least, let us awake 
to a sense of the fact, that every step 
which is not so much nearer heaven, is, 
in fact, a slipping backward towards the 
gates of hell. 

Stand still we cannot : and with the 
aids we have to help us forward, it is an 
offence even to desire to do so. For if 
God bids us encounter trials, it is He who 
is as willing as He is able to bring us 
through them. If Christ our Lord calls 
us to take up after Him the cross which 
once He bore for us, he will enable us to 
endure its bitterness. If He charges us 
to aim at perfection, it is that by the grace 
of His Holy Spirit, He may bring us on, 
by little and Uttle, to a height of holuiess, 
which, if we saw it all at once, we should 
suppose to be unattainable, and so ab- 
stain from making the attempt. 

Lost, wretched, miserable, perishing 
sinners are we in ourselves, after all that 
we can aim at or achieve. Idle, good- 
for-nothing, unprofitable servants, even if 
we had done all that we were command- 
ed to do. God tells us this, and I trust 
we are satisfied of it. 



CHRISTIAN PROGRESS. 76 

But because God tells us this, and be- 
cause, in spite of all our weakness, and 
infirmities, and sins, He, for Ilis dear 
Son's sake, loves us, and willeth not that 
any should perish, let us take special care 
that His love be not bestowed on us in 
vain. Let us watch and examine our- 
selves continually : let us repeat the in- 
quiry again and again, " What lack I 
yet ?" What more must I do, in order to 
be fruitful in every good work, and to in- 
crease in the knowledge of God ? And 
ever, as ascertaining our manifold defici- 
encies, we set about removing them with 
diligence, and seek the aid of the Holy 
Spirit to help us in our efiforts, let us cast 
out of consideration the amount of pro- 
gress made, and rather studying w^hat is 
to he, than what has been arrived at, let our 
feelings and language be identified with 
those of St. Paul : " Brethren, I count 
not myself to have apprehended : but 
this one thing I do, forgetting those things 
which are behind, and reaching forth 
unto those things which are before, I 
press toward the mark for the prize of 
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 



SERMON IV. 



THE SOURCE OF MAn's SUFFICIENCY. 



2 Corinthians iii. 5, part. 
Our suflBciency is of God. 

In matters of every day life we reckon 
him unwise and obstinate, who does not 
care to profit by the direct experience of 
others. The sick man, who dechnes to 
make trial of some medicine of suspicions 
or doubtful efficacy, may, indeed, lose a 
chance of recovery ; though yet, on the 
other hand, he may escape the danger of 
ha^dng the bad symptoms of his malady 
increased. But if his physician addresses 
him and says, '' I know and understand 
your complaint, for I have had it myseJf, 
and have found speedy and certain rehef 
from the medicine which I oifer you," 
surely the patient who then hesitates 
must be very weak-minded and very dis* 



MAN^S SUFFlCIENCr. 77 

trustful, because he rejects an evidence 
with which he ought to be satisfied. 

Now, one reason why Ave ought to re- 
ceive the words of the text with great 
attention, is because they teach us what, 
with reference to the matter therein 
spoken of, was the direct experience of 
St. Paul. 

You will, no doubt, remember that his 
second letter to the Christians of Corinth 
contains in its opening chapters a strong 
assertion of the high importance of his 
own dignity as an Apostle, and a defence 
of the course pursued by him in the exe- 
cution of that arduous office. 

In the second chapter, he had express- 
ed his thankfulness to God, who, " wher- 
ever I go," saith the Apostle (if we may 
thus venture to paraphrase his words), 
" makes me to triumph in the cause of 
Christ, and who spreads forth in every 
country through which I pass, the sweet 
fragrance of the knowledge of his gracious 
dispensations. For I am, in my ministry, 
the sweet fragrance of Christ to God, 
both in those whom I may be the means 
of saving, and in those who perish. To 



•78 THE SOURCE OF 

the one we are the savor of death unto 
death; and to the other the savor of hfe 
unto hfe. And who,"' continues the Apos- 
tle, " is sufficient for these things ? "Who, 
in so arduous a ministry, will dare to pre- 
sume on the sufficiency of his own natu- 
ral powers ?" 

And then St. Paul goes on to say, that 
while he thus speaks of his ministry, he 
has no thought of commending himself 
and his past exertions. Such a course, 
he reminds them, miist needs be unneces- 
sary at Corinth, where those to whom he 
wrote were the most satisfactory testi- 
mony in his behalf " F^," saith he, " are 
our epistle, written in our hearts, known 
and read of all men : you are, as it were, 
a letter written by Christ Himself, and in- 
trusted to our charge,— a letter written 
not with ink, but with the Spirit of the 
living God ; not in tables of stone, but in 
fleshly tables of the heart. And such 
trust, — such a la^\'ful cause of boasting, 
therefore, I have through Christ toward 
God. Not, indeed, that I presume to 
imagine myself competent to do any- 
thing praiseworthy by my own natural 



man's sufficiency. 79 



strength, — not that we are sufficient of 
ourselves to think anything as of our- 
selves ; but our sufficiency is of God." 

Here, then, we have St. Paul, first con- 
templating the difficulties and responsi- 
biUties of his trial, and thus asking, '' AVho 
is sufficient for these things ?" and then 
answering his own question Avith the re- 
ply, " Our sufficiency is of God." And 
this language we find him using continu- 
ally. If he alludes to his having labored 
more abundantly than others, he adds, 
" yet not I, but the grace of God which 
was with me." If he speaks to the Phi- 
lippians of his active discharge of his 
duties, he attributes liis success to the 
true cause, " I can do all things through 
Christ which strengtheneth me :" if he 
exhorts them to work out their own sal- 
vation Avith fear and trembling, he gives, 
as a reason to encourage them in their 
exertions, " for it is God which worketh 
in you both to will and to do of His good 
pleasure." 

And how it was that the blessed Apos- 
tle gained his knowledge of this most 
important doctrine, we learn from that 



80 THE SOURCE OF 

memorable passage, where, "^after speak- 
ing of the thorn in the flesh (whatever 
that might have been), which was sent 
him, lest those abundant revelations 
which he received from heaven soon 
after his conversion, should have exalted 
him above measure, he declares that he 
besought the Lord thrice that it might 
depart from him, and received from the 
Lord this answer, " My grace is sufficient 
for thee ; for My strength is made perfect 
in weakness." 

And now, as to the fact^ that that grace 
was indeed able to support liim in all 
dangers, and carry him through all tempt- 
ations, it seems almost unnecessary to 
speak. Trace his life from his conver- 
sion to his martyrdom, and you will find 
it a record of the power of God, making 
the spirit to triumph over the flesh, and 
enabhng it to face and conquer trials and 
troubles which else must have over- 
whelmed it. What was it but the suffi- 
ciency of God which made St. Paul to 
become in labors more abundant, in 
stripes, and prisons, and deaths, more 
frequent than any of his companions? 



man's sufficiency. 81 

What but this enabled him to endure 
without shrinking that dark catalogue of 
sufferings to which his faithfulness expos- 
ed him, the stoning, and the shipwrecks, 
the journeyings and their accompanying 
perils, from false friends and open foes, 
from civiUzed men and savages ? What 
but this supported him in weariness and 
painfulness, in watchings often, in hun- 
ger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold 
and nakedness ? Yea, it was this which 
gave him strength to take pleasure in in- 
firmities, in reproaches, in necessities, 
in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's 
sake. It was this which enabled him to 
spend and be spent, to fight a good fight, 
to keep the faith, yea, and at length to die 
a Martyr in behalf of his crucified Lord. 
Here then, brethren, is a case in which 
we have the testimony of direct experi- 
ence to guide us. We know that St. 
Paul was even such an one as ourselves, 
encompassed with the same infirmities, 
surrounded by like temptations. We 
know what he did and suffered ; how, 
out of weakness, he was made strong, 
and we know further, the source of that 



82 THE SOURCE OF 

strength which enabled him to overcome 
in his long warfare whh the world and 
the devil. '• Our sufficiency," saith he, 
" is of God." It remains, therefore, that 
we who have the same necessities, should 
learn from his example to seek a strength 
which is not our own. 

Accordingly, while our Church teaches 
us that we have " no powder to do good 
works, pleasant and acceptable to God, 
without the grace of God by Christ pre- 
venting us, that we may have a good 
will, and working with us, when we have 
a good will ;" while she bids us acknow- 
ledge that we have " no power of our- 
selves to help ourselves," — that " through 
the weakness of our mortal nature we 
can do no good thing without God," — 
that '' without " Him '• we are not able to 
please" Him, — and that from Him "all 
holy desires, all good counsels, and all 
just works do proceed," she leads us in 
all her services to pray for the help of 
that grace which can alone give us such 
readiness of body and soul, as to enable 
us to accomplish what God would have 
us to do. 



man's sufficiency. 83 

It is scarcely necessary to remind you 
that the condition of man since the la II 
of Adam has been such that he cannot 
turn and prepare himself, by his own na- 
tural strength and good works, to faith 
and calling upon G^od. By nature we 
are born in sin and the children of wrath. 
But God in his great love, wherewith He 
loveth us, brin<^s us into covenant with 
Himself by Holy Baptism, and places us 
in a state of salvation, — in the way, that 
is, to be saved. In that blessed Sacra- 
ment, we die in sin and rise again un- 
to righteousness; are made regenerate; 
born, as it were, again ; and so become 
new creatures with reference to v/hat Ave 
were before. God adopts us for His 
children ; admits us into His Church ; 
thereby making us very members incor- 
porate in the mystical body of His Son ; 
yea, and makes us, as the Catechism ex- 
presses it, " children of grace." We be- 
come heirs and partakers, that is, of the 
grace, help, and assistance of the Holy 
Spirit. He is shed abroad in our hearts, 
first, in such measure as is requisite for 
our infant necessities, and then in such 



84 THE SOURCE OF 

additional degrees as our years and capa- 
cities render needful. Our bodies, wash- 
ed in the laver of regeneration, He makes 
His temples, and (supposing us to adhere 
to our part of the baptismal covenant) 
that Divine Presence will grow with our 
growth, and strengthen with our strength, 
till we come unto the perfect man, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fulness 
of Christ 

This, I say, is the merciful intention of 
the ever-blessed Comforter towards us: 
this, if we did not grieve Him, and frus- 
trate His operations, would be the work 
which He would carry out in the soul 
of every member of the Holy Catholic 
Church. And if He does not this, the 
fault lies only in ourselves, for He is ready 
to help us to the uttermost; He, if we 
only sought it duly, would give us 
strength to preserve our baptismal gar- 
ment pure and white, unstained by sin, 
and unspotted by the world. 

But, though, at Holy Baptism, we were 
placed in a state of salvation, and were 
set upon the road to heaven, it was left 
to ourselves to choose whether or no we 



MAN S SUFFICIENCY. 85 

would avail ourselves of the privilege, 
and whether we would adhere to the nar- 
row path of life, or betake ourselves to 
the wide gate and broad way that lead- 
etli to destruction. Herein our trial is 
made to consist. Though no longer ex- 
posed to God's Avrath and danniation, on 
account of the sin of our first parent 
Adam, our forefather's nature yet abides 
in us. The lust of the flesh, the infection 
of our nature, still remains even in the 
regenerate ; Baptism makes no difference 
in this respect. It does not eradicate our 
malady, though it points out the means 
of cure, and enables oru' constitution to 
bear the necessary remedies. We have, 
therefore, each of us, a traitor still within, 
— our hearts, and the corruption that is 
natural to them ; while without there is 
the world ; and both from within, and 
from without, the devil has power to 
tempt us to our ruin. 

This, then, is our condition. "We have 
vowed to renounce the devil, the world, 
and the flesh ; and yet we are so consti- 
tuted that they are the things which we 
are most inclined to follow. We are ex- 



86 THE SOURCE OF 

pccted to walk by faith, our nature lead- 
in^ us to walk in the sight of our eyes. 
We are required, from first to last, to keep 
up a constant warfare with self, while 
our appetites and feehngs incite us ever- 
more to indulge ourselves. 

Such being the case, there are few, it 
is to be feared, who escape that pollution 
from which regenerating Baptism has 
once set them free. Negligences and 
ignorances are the lot of all, and most, 
perhaps, have fallen into a course of wil- 
fal sin. 

Now what hope is there for such per- 
sons ? — Of course, as far as this world is 
concerned, they can never be again as 
when they left the font : but, blessed be 
God, we have no reason to fear but that 
the blood of Christ can cleanse from all 
sin, as well actual as imputed, as well 
after Baptism, as before it. They, indeed, 
who have sinned against light and warn- 
ings, must not expect that God will ac- 
cept them without ten times greater 
repentance and contrition than they ex- 
hibited before they had such privileges : 
but still, no earnest penitent is cut off 



man's sufficiency. 87 

from hope. His very penitence is a proof 
that God has not rejected him, for nons 
can repent truly without the aid of God's 
Holy Spirit, and he who repents truly (so 
repents, that is, as to amend his life), has 
the witness within himself, that the Spi- 
rit, which was given him in Baptism, has 
not wholly withdrawn from him, but 
rather is renewing him day by day. 

It is a grievous thing to fall into sin, 
but we may, in some measure, draw the 
poison from the wound we have mflicted 
on ourselves, by learning from our fall 
the extent of our weakness. It may be, 
that we trusted in ourselves, and so have 
transgressed. K so, the evidence is now 
before us, that our sufficiency is not in 
ourselves, but of God. "Wlien we think 
we stand, we are sure to fall. When we 
stay ourselves upon our God, we are en- 
abled to stand upright. The limbs live 
through their union with the body ; the 
fruit comes to perfection because it re- 
ceives nourishment from the roots. " I 
am the vine," said our blessed Lord to 
his disciples, '' Ye are the branches ; lie 
that abideth in Me, and I in him, the 



SS THE SOURCE OF 

same bringeth forth much fruit ; for with- 
out me ye can do nothing." 

Nothing can be done eifectually, no- 
thing can be done as it ought to be done, 
without the co-operating grace of the Holy 
Spnit. Without that, resolve as we may, 
strive as we may, all will end in disap- 
pointment. We shall sink under tempta- 
tion, or grow proud of our seeming suc- 
cess, or be self-deceived, or inconsistent. 
Somehow or other, how great soever may 
be our early promise, we shall brmg no 
fruit to perfection ; the frost will destroy 
it, or the worm devour it ; it will wither, 
or be cankered, or drop from the bough 
ere it be half ripened. " Without Me ye 
can do nothing !" 

What then ? Since the grace of God 
is all-sufficient; and since that grace 
alone enables us either to have good de- 
sires, or to bring them to good effect, are 
we to take no further trouble, and sup- 
pose that we have nothing to do but to 
surrender ourselves to a state of spiritual 
inacti^dty, expecting that all will be done 
for us, and that we are to do nothing for 
ourselves,— -and that without any exer- 



man's sufficiency. 89 

tion on our parts we shall be formed and 
fashioned after the model of Christian 
perfection, transformed by the renewing 
of our minds, and so made ripe for glory ? 
That be far from us ! It fares with us 
as with the Apostle of old : Satan desires 
to have us, that he may sift us as wheat, 
and unless we resist him with all the en- 
ergies of mind and body, of heart and 
soul, he will work his will upon us. 
Therefore, we must work out our own 
salvation with fear and tremblmg, for it 
is God that worketh in us both to will 
and to do of His good pleasm-e. "We 
have to engage in an arduous contest; 
and we must not shrink from it, for we 
have this encouraging assurance, "My 
strength is sufficient for thee." We have 
to engage in an arduous contest, but we 
must enter on it in no rash spirit of con- 
fidence and presumption, for the same 
voice declares, " Without Me ye can do 
nothing." AVe have commenced our 
warfare, and we find our arm strength- 
ened, and our heart waxing bolder ; take 
we heed, then, to make the acknowledg- 
ment, " Our sufficiency is of God." When 



90 THE SOURCE OF 

all is done we shall be still unprofitable 
servants, and only have performed that 
which it was our duty to do. But we 
can never make any progress, even in 
tins unprofitable service, without the 
grace of God, and that grace will only 
be vouchsafed in proportion as we covet 
it earnestly, seek it heartily, and profit by 
it diligently. 

Our sufficiency is of God; but our 
diligence must be our own. We must 
"eschew evil and do good, seek peace 
and ensue it, for the eyes of the Lord are 
over the righteous, and His ears are open 
unto tbeir prayers." He will help them 
who strive to help themselves^ and none 
other; for diligence is the test of sincerity. 
And in proportion as we reahze to our- 
selves the thought that our bodies are 
the temples of the Holy Ghost, and in 
proportion as we learn our own weak- 
ness, and desire His strength and assist- 
ance, we shall exert ourselves more and 
more to co-operate with Him, even as 
He, in His mercy, is pleased to co-operate 
with us. In order that the flesh may 
gain no mastery over us, we shall keep 



man's sufficiency. 91 

it in subjection by fasts and mortification, 
and by disciplining it to endure hardness. 
In order that our hearts may not betray 
us, we shall exercise them in all that 
may render them humble and obedient* 
Our appetites we shall hold in check, by 
denying and thwarting them, even in 
things innocent. Our eyes and our 
tongues we shall strictly control ; and so 
far as in us lies we shall endeavor to 
make our mortal bocUes not unmeet for 
the presence of the Spirit of Purity and 
Truth. 

And while we thus regulate ourselves, 
so far as external objects are concerned, 
we shall not be less diligent in avaihng 
ourselves of those means of grace which 
are placed within our reach. Prayer and 
meditation on the Word of God ; a will- 
ing and devout attention to the ordinances 
of the Church; and above all, regular 
participation in the blessed Sacrament of 
the Body and Blood of Christ, will so 
stabUsh and confirm our hearts as to pre- 
pare them, like good ground, for the re- 
ception of heavenly seed. 

May we, brethren, learn daily to value 



92 THE SOURCE OP MAN's SUFFICIENCY. 

more and more the inestimable privileges 
to which our Baptism gave us the title ; 
may we dread more and more to forfeit 
them. May God, for His dear Son's sake, 
increase in us continually His manifold 
gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom and 
understanding ; the spirit of counsel and 
ghostly strength ; the spirit of knowledge 
and true godliness. May He fill us with 
the spirit of His holy fear, both now and 
for ever. Amen. 



SERMON V. 

THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT BEING OFFENDED 
IN CHRIST. 

Matthew xi. 6. 

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me. 

The circumstances under which these 
words were spoken were as follows. St. 
John the Baptist, having heard in his pri- 
son the works of Christ, sent two of his 
disciples (through whom, as it seems, the 
report of the Saviour's miracles had reach- 
ed him^) with this message to our bless- 
ed Lord, '• Art Thou He that should come V^ 
— the Shiloh, that is, of the Fathers, — the 
Messiah of the Prophets, — " or do we look 
for another ?'* 

It has not been revealed to us why the 
Baptist deputed his followers to make 
such an inquiry, and hence there has 
arisen considerable discussion on the sub- 

* Luke vli, 18. 



94 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

ject, in which some have gone so far as 
to suppose that St. John's own faith had, 
in some measure, failed him, either be- 
cause his expectations of the temporal 
glory of the Messiah's kingdom had not 
been reahzed, or because he found him- 
self left without succor under circum- 
stances in which he had expected a mi- 
raculous deliverance. 

The probability, however, seems to be 
that the message was not sent by the 
blessed Baptist for the satisfaction of any 
doubts of his own, but for the conviction 
of his disciples. That St. John himself 
could have doubted that Christ was the 
Messiah, seems incredible, when we re- 
member the several occasions on which he 
had acknowledged Him to be such in the 
fullest and clearest manner.^ But with 
respect to his followers, the case was dif- 
ferent : and as they had already given 
proof that they were not altogether with- 
out some jealousy of our Lord and His 
disciples,! and would, therefore, be less 

* Compare John i. 6, 7, 8, 33, 34, 36; iii. 26, 29—36 ; 
v- 33. 

t Matt. ix. 14. 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 95 

willing to receive the truth when their 
master should be removed from them, he 
sent them, while he was yet alive, to that 
Messiah in Whom he desired them to 
believe, even as he did himself. 

Accordingly they came, with the in- 
quiry on their lips, " Art Thou He that 
should come, or do we look for another ?" 
— "And in the same hour," writes St. 
Luke in his account of this event, Jesus 
"cured many of their infirmities and 
plagues, and evil spirits ; and unto many 
that were bhnd He gave sight." Now, 
you will remember, brethren, that it had 
long since been pointed out by Isaiah, as 
a distinguishing note or mark of the 
Messiah's kingdom, that " then the eyes 
of the bhnd shall be opened, and the ears 
of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the 
lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue 
of the dumb sing."^ " Jesus," therefore, 
" answered and said unto them, Go and 
show John again, those things which ye 
do hear and see : the blind receive their 
sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are 
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are 

* Isaiah xxxv. 5, 6. 

5* 



96 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

raised up, and the poor have the Gospel 
preached unto them. And blessed is he, 
whosoever shall not be offended ui Me" 
He does not tell them in so many- 
words that He is the Christ, — for (as one 
of the Fathers of the Church observes,^ 
with reference to this incident), " the 
testimony of deeds is stronger than the 
testimony of words," but He gives them 
such an evidence as might satisfy their 
doubts, adding, at the same time, byway 
of silent reproof and appeal to their con- 
sciences, the words I have chosen for my 
text : " Blessed is he, whosoever shall not 
be offended in Me." — My low estate that 
is, or My disclaiming all intention of hav- 
ing My kingdom in this world, or My 
failing to exert miraculous power in be- 
half of your imprisoned master, have 
been obstacles in the way of your be- 
hef : I do not say that these things are no 
trial, but I pronounce a blessing on him 
whose faith surmounts it. Blessed is he, 
whosoever shall not be ashamed of My 
doctrine, nor discouraged by any tempo- 
ral evils, from obeying it. 

• St. Chrysostom (quoted in the Catena Aurea). 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 97 

The religion of the Gospel was never 
brought before our race as a thing which 
would have attractions to the natural 
man. On the contrary, it proclaimed, at 
the outset, to all who adopted it, that it 
required them to undertake a war of ex- 
termination with their natural appetites, 
or in other words, with their indwelUng 
corruption. And, such being the case, it 
was manifest that even where the preach- 
ing the doctrines of the Cross was not met 
with determined hostility and opposition, 
it would be received with coldness, mis- 
trust, prejudice and dislike. The evil- 
disposed and worldly-minded would hate 
it with a perfect hatred, and so far as they 
could, become persecutors of those who 
favored it. Those who trusted in their 
own righteousness, and were satisfied 
with themselves, would find a cause of 
offence in it ; and as these persons must 
always form a large class, it is no wonder 
that our blessed Lord's preaching found 
no favor with a great body of His country- 
men. But all tliis had been predicted 
long before. Isaiah had forewarned his 
cou.ntrymen that the Lord of Hosts Him- 



98 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

self; while offering to be " a sanctuary," 
should become " a stone of stumbhng and 
a rock of offence to both the house of Is- 
rael, — a gin and a snare to the inhabit- 
ants of Jerusalem." 

And when our Lord began to preach, 
He announced to those who heard Him 
that he should himself be a scandal and 
offence to the world, that His Doctrine 
should be a stumbhng-block, and that 
His followers should be hated of all men 
for His name's sake. 

Nor did the event fail to justify the pre- 
diction. One while, His countrymen 
were " offended in Him," because He was 
**the carpenter's son," and so they reject- 
ed His doctrine out of prejudice to His 
person. Another while. His very disci- 
ples not only were " offended because of 
Him," but " forsook Him and fled" from 
Him in His hour of trial, because He did 
not manifest His divine power for the de- 
struction of His enemies. 

And so with regard to His teaching. 
He bids the young Ruler, who professed 
a desire to inherit eternal life, go and sell 
his goods and give to the poor ; and the 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 99 

result is, that the rich man is offended ; 
"when he heard that saying, he went 
away sorrowful, for he had great posses- 
sions." So again, on another occasion, 
when He had answered the inquiry of 
the Pharisees, with respect to the pay- 
ment of tribute, in a manner that ought 
to have filled them with both remorse 
and conviction, all that is recorded of 
them is, that instead of acknowledging 
Him for their Lord and their God, " they 
marvelled, and left Him, and went their 
way." And so once more, when He had 
declared in the synagogue at Capernaum, 
'' Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of 
Man, and drink His blood, ye have no 
hfe in you," — we are told that those who 
heard Him murmured at the hardness of 
the saying, that, in short, it was an of- 
fence to them ; and it is added, '' From 
that time many of His disciples went 
back, and walked no more with Him." 

Nor was it otherwise when the Bride- 
groom was taken from them. We have 
only to read the Acts of the Apostles to 
see how continually the evil tempers and 
prejudices of men made the preaching of 



100 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

the Gospel an ofFence to them. And the 
Epistles are full of evidence to the same 
point. St. Paul testifies to the Corin- 
thians that the doctrine of Christ crucified 
is unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and 
to the Greeks, foohshness : — a hindrance 
that is, and an obstacle, and a discourage- 
ment, and an occasion of falling. And 
the same Apostle speaks to the Galatians 
of " the ofFence of the Cross" as though 
the expression were quite famihar to 
them: while St. Peter, addressing him- 
self to the faithful, declares that unto 
them that believe, Christ "is precious, 
but unto them which be disobedient" He 
is " a stone of stumbhng, and a rock of 
offence, even unto them which stumble 
at the Word." 

Enough has now been said to show 
you that the religion of Christ Jesus our 
Lord was, even from the first, an ofience 
to those to whom it v/as offered. So it 
has been throughout all ages. His Doc- 
trines, His Ordinances, His Church, His 
INIinisters, have been so many stumbhng- 
blocks to the world ; and so, no doubt, 
they will continue to the end. It is 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 101 

the world's way, and the Church's trial. 
And, therefore, brethren, it behooves us, 
each for himself, to reflect how far we 
have hopes of being inheritors of that 
blessedness which He, who is the Church's 
Head and Lord, has pronounced on those 
who are not offended in Him. In the 
remainder of this discourse it will be my 
object to offer some suggestions to your 
notice, which may aid you in your in- 
quiry. 

And first I must observe, that our con- 
dition is very different from that of those 
to whom the Gospel was first preached, 
and, therefore, if we are offended at it, 
there is far less excuse for us than there 
was for them. AVe profess and call our- 
selves Christians ; we continually declare 
our belief in One Holy Catholic and Apos- 
tolic Church. They, on the other hand, 
had been brought up as Jews or Hea- 
thens, and for them to embrace Chris- 
tianity involved a change in the opinions, 
feehngs, and habits of a life-time. If, to 
such persons, the doctrines of the Cross 
were a stumbling-block, it was surely no 



102 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

great marvel, human nature being what 
it is. 

But with ourselves, as I have already- 
said, the case is widely different. The 
Church can never appear to us as a new 
sect struggling for existence, and every- 
where spoken against ; she comes before 
us, supported by vouchers of unquestion- 
able authority, and hallowed with the 
reverence of ages, the birth-place and the 
home of all that has been great and noble 
and of good report in the eyes of man, of 
all that is precious in the sight of God. 
Into this Church we were admitted when 
infants, and so put in possession of privi- 
leges which can be found nowhere else : 
to this Church we declared our allegiance 
in the face of God and the congregation, 
when we were confirmed by the Bishop ; 
and with this Church we solemnly pro- 
claim our communion, whenever, in the 
house of God, we join in that Book of 
Common Prayer, which it is our happy 
privilege, as members of the Enghsh 
branch of Chrisf s Cathohc Church to 
possess, — that Book of Common Prayer 
to which we confidently appeal as 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 103 

expressing the sense of the Universal 
Church, — the Truth, as it has been held 
by the consent of ail times, places, and 
persons. 

Shame, therefore, and grief it were for 
us to be offended in her. Undutiful, yea, 
unnatural were it for the child to lift up 
his hand or his voice against his mother. 
The Church to which we belong is 
Chrisfs representative and vice-gerent 
on earth to us. We know that in her the 
pure Word of God is preached, and the 
Sacraments are rightly administered, by 
a clergy holding their succession from 
the Apostles, and, therefore, we do not 
doubt that the Church of England is the 
Church of Christ in England, — the Eng- 
Ush branch of the One Holy CathoUc 
Church, apart from which there can be 
no safety. 

How, then, can any, who call them- 
selves her children, find cause of offence 
in her ? Are they wiser than she ? or 
purer ? or better ? Is their judgment in- 
falhble, that they set it against her's ? Is 
their life so heavenly that her ordinances 
are of no use to them ? 



104 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

Perhaps some one will answer that it 
is by no means the same thing to be of- 
fended in Christ, and to find matters of 
offence in His Church. But to this I 
reply, if the Church teaches as Christ 
teaches, then it is Christ's teaching : but 
if she does not teach as Christ teaches, 
then there can be no safety in her com- 
munion. But there are those who allow 
themselves to stay in her communion, 
and who yet lift up their heel against 
her ; who outwardly are in her ranks, but 
assuredly are not of her, because they are 
offended in her. 

Such, on the one hand, are those who 
would lower her Sacraments into mere 
outward signs, denying their inward 
grace ; — who dislike and would alter her 
Liturgy; who speak with contempt of her 
holy ordinances of fast and festival; — 
who revolt at her ceremonies, and will 
not tolerate the thought of reviving her 
ancient discipline. And such, on the 
other hand, are those, who, because she 
has lost some privileges and some bless- 
ings which she had while yet in com- 
munion with Rome, would despise her 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 105 

in what they call her low estate, would 
cast in her teeth her loss of discipline and 
fellowship with other branches of the 
Catholic Church, and who, in a Romaniz- 
ing spirit, seek rather to forget the errors 
and superstitions, from which she was 
reformed, than to remember the inestim- 
able blessings which have (by God's 
great mercy, and in spite of our demerits) 
been secured to her. 

Now that both these classes of persons 
are in the way, at least, to extreme peril, 
I must needs express my belief Depend 
upon it, a man is guilty of no sUght sin 
who allows his mind to become unsettled 
in its allegiance to the Church. He has 
made the first step towards apostasy, 
though as yet he knows it not, and pro- 
bably has no suspicion of danger so long 
as he abstains from an overt act. But as 
has been most truly said, " One does 
not begin to fall, when the fall becomes 
sensible."^ 

Others may take what course seems 
right in their own eyes, but a Church- 
man has no right to be offended in his 

* Bp. Wilson. 



106 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

Church. If the matter of offence relates 
to an article of faith, in which behef may 
affect salvation, he must reflect that he 
is offended not with the Church merely, 
but with Christ, for the Church holds no- 
thing to be an article of faith but what 
" may be read in or proved by Holy Scrip- 
ture," — the inspired Word of God. — If, on 
the other hand, it be a form, or ceremony, 
or matter of discipUne, then, since the 
Church has the power of determining 
such matters,^ for a man to be offended 
here, is to go altogether out of his own 
province. He is not to direct, but to 
obey. The child has not authority over 
the parent, but the parent over the child. 
When the parent has laid down the law, 
the affair is settled; the child has no 
business to question, criticise, or dispute. 
The thing required, not being in itself un- 
lawful, the duty of the child, is, as I have 
said, to obey with a wiUing mind. And 
so it should be with us. Difficulties in 
our rehgion (independent of difficulties 
in the evidences) must be received as a 
matter of faith. The religion itself being 

* Articles XX.; xxxiv. 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 107 

proved to come from God, we must take 
what we find in it, without furtiier ques- 
tioning. And so, hkewise, with reference 
to the Church ; whatever difficulties we 
may find in her constitution or her ordi- 
nances, so long as what is prescribed is 
not contrary to the Word of God, we are 
bound to obey with cheerfulness, and a 
glad surrender of our own judgments. 

And I will content myself with giving 
you a single reason why such a course 
will, in the end, prove best. It will he the 
inost conducive to your souVs health. Look 
out upon the world around you, and see 
the case of those who find stones of 
stumbling, and rocks of offence (whether 
on this side or that) in the Church of 
which they are members. They never 
seem to advance to any exalted height of 
personal holiness. They are sincere and 
in earnest, but then* earnestness and sin- 
cerity begin and end in party feehng. 
They discuss, and argue, and criticise ; 
and thereby pander to their own vanity : 
they make themselves heard, and the 
world, it may be, admires their energy : 
but where is the fruit of their exertions? 



108 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

Unstable as water, they cannot excel 
Whatever question a^tates the so-called 
religious world, excites them, and they 
eagerly identify themselves with one or 
other set of opinions. And where the 
dutiful and humble-minded are glad to 
hold their tongues and keep silence, main- 
taining the even tenor of their way in 
the quiet discharge of daily duties, these 
persons spend their lives m straining at 
gnats and swallowing camels, pa}'ing 
tithes of mint and cummin, and neglect- 
ing, it is to be feared, the weightier mat- 
ters of the law, self-discipline, justice, 
mercy, charity, and the love of God. 

But let us, my brethren, avoiding the 
snares into which they fall, whose undis- 
ciplined minds put no check upon their 
natural wilfuhiess and self-confidence, 
endeavor to appropriate to ourselves the 
blessedness promised by our Lord in the 
text. '' Blessed is he, whosoever shall 
not be offended in Me." 

It has pleased God to make ever}'tliing 
connected with our condition m tliis 
world, a ti'ial of our faith and patience. 
Our reUgion has its mvsteries, and its dilfi- 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. 100 

culties : our Church-membership has its 
hindrances, and (so far as man is con- 
cerned in it) its imperfections. But these 
diHiculties and hindrances are our ap- 
pointed means of trial. Through them, 
and in spite of them, we must make our 
way : they must be vanquished and over- 
come hke any other temptation. 

But since it is a far easier matter to 
maintain our post, in the first instance, 
than to regain it when it has been once 
lost through carelessness, let me in con- 
clusion exhort you to be on your guard 
against admitting any feelings of dis- 
content as to the position in which, as 
Churchmen, the Providence of God has 
placed you. Depend upon it that little 
good is ever hkely to accrue to you, from 
any display of your ingenuity in discov- 
ering causes of oflence. There is notliing 
but danger that can result from unsettUng 
your own minds or tliose of others ; and 
each of us, we may be sure, has enough 
to reform within, without setting himself 
up to judge the Church. It is quite time 
enough to cry out for more privileges, 
when we have availed om'selves to the 



110 THE BLESSEDNESS OF NOT 

Utmost of those uithia our reach: it is 
quite time enough to pronounce her ordi- 
nances insutficicnt to satisfy an earnest 
mind, when we can declare, as m Gods 
presence, that we have Uved up to them. 
The many who speak in a rude irrever- 
ent way about her, are probably incom- 
petent to speak at all; they merely foUow 
a popular clamor, and have no real know- 
led<re as to what she does, or what she 
does not teach. But where any one, pro- 
fessing attachment to the Church, and 
not uninstructed in her doctrines, is dis- 
posed to be offended in her, surely it is 
but fair to inquire of him whether he is 
carefully living up to what she prescribes 
to him. If he is not, he is wholly untit 
for the office he has assumed. 

I would fain hope that those whom i 
address are so rooted and built up in the 
faith, so thankful for the innumerable 
blessings they have received at her hands, 
that thev have not a wish, nor a thought, 
beyond the Church of the Prayer Book; 
and that they are so satisfied that all 
thino-s necessary to salvation may be 
found within her pale, that they would 



BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST. Ill 

never join ^vitll those who find cause of 
oireuce ill her. But while I gladly believe 
iliis of you, let me remind you, that to be 
a sincere Churchman imphes sometliing 
more than a mere profession of principles. 
It implies a constant, diligent walking in 
all the Church's ordinances. It imphes 
habits of discipline and self-restraint. It 
implies a life spent, according to your 
means and abihties, in prayers, and fasts, 
and alms. It imphes steadfastness, and 
diligence, and discretion, and humility: 
a dread of false doctrine, heresy, and 
schism, and yet a charit}' that thinks no 
evil and hopes the best ; that loves the 
sinner, even while it hates the sin. It im- 
plies a spirit of patience and forbearance, 
a readiness to submit to misrepresenta- 
tion and calumny, and a willingness to 
forgive them and pass them by. It im- 
phes an earnest desire to remove all causes 
of offence, and a special care of creating 
them; but it, likewise, imphes a full 
practical behef in our Saviour's words, 
" Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be 
offended in Me ;" and an earnest fear lest 
by putting any shght upon the Church, 
6 



112 NOT BEING OFFENDED IN CHEIST. 

we should incur the anger of the Church's 
Lord, of Kim who declared to the found- 
ers of that Church, " He that heareth you, 
heareth Me ; and he that despiseth you, 
despiseth Me ; and he that despiseth Me, 
despiseth Him that sent Me." 



SERMON VI. 

HOLINESS IN OURSELVES, AND FORBEARANCE 
TO OTHERS. 

Mark ix. 50. 
I lave salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. 

Whatever may be the difficulties and 
uncertainty attending the interpretation 
of that part of our blessed Lord's address 
to the beloved disciple, which immedi- 
ately precedes the passage I have just 
read to you, the text itself has no ob- 
scurity whatever. It is the simple enun- 
ciation of a command which we are all 
bound to obey ; and the general drift and 
connection of the context -will, in spite 
of those parts, whose meaning is less ob- 
vious, be so far clear to the careful reader 
of his Bible, that he will be at no loss to 
discover the kind of circumstances, un- 
der which the discharge of the duty here 
prescribed becomes especially needful. 



114 

Those persons who have made it their 
business to defend our Holy llehgion from 
the assaults of unbelievers, by careful 
consideration of those external evidences 
of its divine origin, which are unneces- 
sary to men who, hke ourselves, have, as 
I trust, the testimony of its truth within 
us, — these Apologists of Christianit}^ have 
been wont to adduce, as one among many 
other proofs in favor of our Lord's com- 
mission from on liigh, that if He had been 
a deceiver, He would never have fixed 
upon such persons as those whom He 
actually selected to be the first preachers 
of the Gospel. And a moment's reflec- 
tion will suffice to convince us that there 
is great force in the argument An im- 
postor would have chosen instruments 
who gave promise of immediate useful- 
ness ; if he intended to make them part- 
ners in his deceit, he would have fixed 
on the subtle, the cool-headed, the dar- 
ing ; if his object was to deceive them, 
he would have incited none to be his dis- 
ciples but the weak, the dull, the unsus- 
picious. 

But instead of this, we fijid the Founder 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 115 

of Christianity choosing for Ilis followers 
a chiss of persons whose minds were just 
of that very temper, which, supposing 
Him to have been a deceiver, would have 
given Him most trouble. The Apostles 
(I am, of course, speaking of them as 
they were before the day of Pentecost) 
showed tliemselves to be an^nhing rather 
than ready to give implicit faith to their 
Master's teaching ; they were frequently 
jealous of one another; there was Uttle 
or no bond of union between them ; and 
the moment the Shepherd was smitten, 
the sheep were scattered abroad. 

If such men became, in after times, 
the successful preachers of the Gospel, it 
could only be, first, because what they 
preached was true, and, therefore, God 
was with them ; and secondly, because 
they had prepared themselves for their 
task of Christianizing the world, by dis- 
cipUning themselves into obedience to 
those ndes which their heavenly Master 
laid down for their guidance. 

Now I will show you how that wliich 
I have been saying applies to the text. 
It appears that on a certain occasion a 



116 HOLINESS IN OURSELVE.^ 

strife arose among the disciples which 
should be greatest. Our blessed Lord 
had just before been transfigured in the 
presence of Peter, James, and John, and 
it is not impossible that the favor shown 
to them might have been resented by 
some other of the Apostles, who felt 
themselves their superiors in age, or of 
nearer kin to Jesus. Be this as it may, 
there was a strife ; and He who read their 
hearts, availed Himself of the opportunity 
to warn them that the temper they then 
exhibited was the very last which would 
find favor in His kingdom. "If any 
man," said He, "desire to be first, the 
same shall be last of all, and servant of 
all." And then, after setting a httle child 
before them as an emblem of that free- 
dom from pride, and contentiousness, 
and ambition, which is indispensable to 
those who desire to be greatest in the 
kingdom of God; after admonisliing them 
of the peril in which they stand, who, by 
their evil tempers, put stumbhng-blocks 
in the way of the weakest of God's serv- 
ants ; and of the necessity of making any 
surrender rather than incur such a risk ; 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 117 

He concludes by declaring that as every 
biirnt-oHermg under the law was first 
salted with salt, and then consumed by 
fire : so every one who has been histruct- 
ed in the doctrine of the Gospel, if, when 
he is tried, he be found not sincere, shall 
be destroyed by the eternal fire of Divine 
Wrath. ''Salt," he adds, "is good: but 
if the salt have lost his saltness, where- 
with will ye season it? Have salt in 
yourselves, and have peace one with 
another." The doctrine, that is, wherein 
I have instructed you, will make you mse 
and good, will save you from the corrup- 
tions of the world, and enable you to 
teach others to preserve themselves unto 
life eternal. But if you, thus instructed, 
shall, instead of teaching others, fall away 
yourselves, either through hope or fear of 
any earthly thing, you will become the 
most unprofitable and inexcusable of 
men. Take heed, therefore, that ye con- 
tinue steadfast in the faith yourselves, and 
let no ambitious designs, no foolish con- 
tentions among yourselves, or fear of out- 
ward sufFermg or persecution, hinder the 
propagation of truth among others. 



lis HOLINESS IN OURSELYES, 

Here, then, was the rule for the first 
disciples of the Lord, and in them for us. 
They were to have salt in themselves, — 
to have within them a fixed and settled 
principle, i)(jrvading their whole charac- 
ter, and preservijiii them untainted, and 
imcorrupted, amid surrounding evil. And 
with this distinctive mark about them, 
which could not but, in great measure, 
render them different from the mass of 
mankind, and even (m proportion as they 
had more or less of it) different from those 
who received like faith with them, they 
were to have peace one with another : to 
be free from jealousy at others' privileges, 
and from envying their attainments ; to 
be ready to g.ve them credit for the same 
purity oi motive by wliich they were ac- 
tuated themselves ; to temper their zeal 
with discretion and charity; to be hum- 
ble about themselves, and to think more 
highly of others than of themselves ; and 
to postpone all personal considerations to 
tlie advancement of their Master's cause, 
and making His reUgion lovely in the eyes 
of men. They were to have peace one 
with ■ another, because, else, their labors 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 119 

would be all in vain ; for a kingdom di- 
vided against itself is brought to desola- 
tion. They were to have peace one with 
another, because, else, oilences must 
needs come, and their Lord had pro- 
nounced His sentence of wo upon him 
by whom the offence cometh. 

In few words, then, the admonition of 
the text seems to require this, that they 
who ar« Christ's servants employ them- 
selves in the quiet discharge of their own 
duties, instead of interfering with others ; 
and that in their intercourse with others 
they exhibit " the ornament of a meek 
and quiet spirit," which, the Apostle as- 
sures us, " is, in the sight of God, of great 
price." And I conceive that this admo- 
nition is one to which it behooves us to 
pay great attention, especially at the pre- 
sent time, when there seems on all sides 
a determination to forget it. 

It pleased God to make it the trial of 
our fathers, in the last generation, that 
their lot should be cast m a season when 
men were in a state of apathy and slum- 
ber, Avith respect to holy things : the 
standard both of faith and practice was 



120 HOLINESS IN OURSELVES, 

very low, and the Church being inactive, 
her authority and ordinances were de- 
spised. 

Our trial is of a different, but not less 
perilous kind. We are liWng in the 
midst of controversy and agitation ; when 
there is everywhere much noise and cla- 
mor about religion, and much open pro- 
fession of it, Avithout, I fear, anything at 
all approaching to a corresponding prac- 
tice. I am speaking of ourselves, as 
Churchmen : for Avith all that is ^Wthout 
we have nothmg to do. It is sufficient 
that we judge ourselves. With those 
who are gone out from us, we have no 
concern, except in our prayers for them. 
Those who will not " hear the Church," 
ought, so far as associating with them is 
concerned, to be unto us as heathen men 
and pubUcans. " Mark them," writes St. 
Paul, "which cause divisions and offences 
contrary to the doctrines wliich ye have 
learned, and avoid them." 

Looking, then, to our own branch of 
the Church Catholic at the present time, 
we find in it much of angry partisanship, 
much of strife and debate, much of jea- 



AND FOUBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 121 

lousy, suspicion and uncharitablencss. 
Such ever has been, such nmst ever be 
the case, when men are in earnest. And 
grievous as is the sight, nevertheless it is 
an evidence that there is still life within 
us. Let us pray Him Who is ever bring- 
ing good out of evil, that as sparks of fire 
are produced by the coUision of flint and 
steel, so the truth of God may be more 
clearly made manifest in tliis war of an- 
tagonist principles, that so meek and quiet 
minds may learn their way more clearly, 
and also that the good which is brought 
to the surface by all this troubling of the 
waters, may retain its buoyancy, while the 
evil may sink like lead into the depths ! 
Yet, while we admit that controversy 
is a sign of hfe, let us never forget that 
they who love controversy for its own 
sake cannot be otherwise than hateful 
characters, with tempers far removed from 
the kingdom of God, and having but lit- 
tle of that Spirit whose fruits are not ha- 
tred and variance, emulations and strife, 
heresies and envying, but love and peace, 
and long-suffering, and gentleness, and 
temperance. 



122 HOLINESS IN OUBSELVES, 

To rush unbidden into controversy ; to 
be a voluble talker about other men's 
opinions; to use harsh words; to judge, 
and criticise, and condemn, are sure signs 
of a w ak, imchastened, unchristian spi- 
rit, unable to control itself, and, therefore, 
wholly unfit to pass sentence on others. 

And it is one of the worst features of 
the present time, that, in almost every 
class of society, some of these fluent 
talkers are to be found, who, so long as 
they can attract notice to themselves, and 
render themselves conspicuous, seem to 
care little or nothing for the miscliief 
they may be domg, for the calumnies they 
may help to disseminate, the minds they 
may unsettle, the stumbling-blocks they 
may put in a brother's way. They give 
no thought that what they scatter are 
firebrands. " It is sport," saith Solomon, 
*' it is sport to a fool to do mischief" 

And it is a yet more sad consideration, 
tliat many of those who so forget the law 
of Christ are the yomig, the rising gen- 
eration. And no wonder ; for the tree is 
known by its fruits. Never was there a 
generation less inclined to give honor 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 123 

where honor is due, by which age was 
treated witli less reverence, and the opi- 
nion of elders Avith less respect ; in which 
knowledge was more shallow and super- 
ficial, in which, with respect to that know- 
ledge, there was more self-confidence, and 
self-conceit ; and in which there was more 
waywardness, wilfulness, and impatience 
of control. 

A\liy need we marvel if, among minds 
so constituted, we find some who are not 
afraid to look down upon and despise 
their parents ? who think it no shame to 
set themselves up as judges of the opin- 
ions and motives of their spiritual pastors ? 
who count it a proof of their superior dis- 
crimination that they are dissatisfied with 
their Church, and hanker after something 
which they find not in her, though they 
neither carry out her system in themselves 
nor make the most of the privileges which 
she confers on them ? Can it, in any 
sense, however, be said of such persons, 
that they have " salt" in themselves ? I 
trow not. 

For let us consider what it is to have salt 
in ourselves. Is it not to be rooted and 



124 HOLINESS IN OURSELVES, 

grounded in our opinions upon full and 
sufficient reasons, not as taking a one- 
sided view, still less as choosing our side 
from party-motives ? but because, having 
adequate knowledge, and having allowed 
ourselves ample time for dehberation, and 
aided ourselves with the judgments of 
those whom God has set over us, we have 
at length arrived at a sober decision ? Is 
it not, moreover, to make our practice 
consort with that decision ? Is it not to 
be thorovghly furnished unto all good 
works, instead of exhibiting a motley in- 
consistency, voluble in words, but defi- 
cient in deeds ? Does it not involve, too, 
something of the principle of '-keeping 
ourselves to ourselves," as the saying is ; 
of not thrusting in with irreverent haste 
the expression of our own crude opinions 
upon all occasions ? Does it not imply 
with respect to our actions, an obedience 
to the Apostolic injunction, that we ''study 
to be quiet, and to do our own business," 
and with reference to our words, that we 
attend to St. PauFs exhortations, " Let 
your speech be alway with grace, sea- 
soned with salt, tliat ye may know how 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 125 

ye ought to answer every man ;" and, 
"Let no corrupt communication proceed 
out of your mouth, but that which is ^ood 
to the use of edifying, that it may minis- 
ter grace unto the hearers ?" WiJl not he 
who has " sak" in liimself^ have gained 
some knowledge of the defects of his 
own character, and will not this know- 
ledge teach him to refrain liis hps from 
expressing strong opinions either about 
individuals or doctrines ? Will not the 
experience of his own past wickedness 
and infirmities, of the many mistakes in- 
to which he has fallen, and of the many 
silly things he has said and done, make 
him humble about himself, and incline 
him rather to shrink from observation, 
than find a morbid pleasure in rendering 
himself conspicuous, and glory in making 
his friends uneasy by liis adoption of ex- 
treme views ? Will he not, — if he has 
salt in himself, if he is in earnest, if he 
has any adequate notion of the position 
in which he stands, and of the work 
which he has to do, — will he not be 
among those who feel the truth too deeply 
to allow themselves to make it the subject 



126 HOLINESS IN OURSELVES, 

of common, and therefore, of irreverent 
conversation ? Of course, in saying this, 
I do not mean that people are not to make 
up their minds decidedly on the subjects 
"which ag-itate us, nor to express their 
honest opinion upon proper occasions : 
but I do mean that it is a mark of a light, 
and vain, and frivolous mind (to use no 
harsher term) to be continually speaking 
on such subjects : it is a mark of a very 
undiscipUned mind to speak at all in tone 
of self-confidence, and as if none were 
wiser than ourselves : and it is a mark of 
a very uncharitable, and, therefore, un- 
christian mind, which allows itself to at- 
tribute e\il motiA^es to those who difier 
from it, to speak of them shghtingly, and 
imkindly; and above all, which is not 
afraid to gratify itself, by saying just the 
most irritating thing in just the most irrita- 
ting way, when they who desire the peace 
of Zion would rather suffer anytliing per- 
sonally, than increase the distractions 
which they see around them. " Have salt 
in yourselves, and have peace one with 
another." 

While the world stands, tliere must al- 
ways be points upon which tlie most de- 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 127 

voted and conscientious servants of God 
Avill diller. There always have been con- 
lUctinij^ opinions on the subjects which 
ai^itatc ourselves, and there is no prospect 
or hkehhood that it should ever be other- 
Avise. It is a Avell-known fact that those 
Avho drew up the Articles of our own 
Church, did so with the wish of compre- 
hending, not of excluding, as many as 
possible. They fixed, as it were, certain 
limits which could not be passed over by 
those who continued to hold communion 
with us : but the space within those limits 
is a wide one, and there the exercise 
of individual judgment was permitted. 
" There must always," as it has been most 
justly said, " be allowable points of dif- 
ference in the opinions of good men, and 
it is only where such opinions are carried 
into extremes, or are mooted in a spirit 
which tends to schism, that the interfer- 
ence of those in authority in the Church 
is called for." 

The rule laid down by the Lord for His 
disciples was, that they should have peace 
one with another. And we possess abun- 
dant evidence that in the first ages of the 



128 HOLLVESS IN OURSELVES, 

Church, among those who were Chris- 
tians indeed, mutual forbearance, peace, 
and love, was the distinguishing charac- 
teristic. " See how these Christians love 
one another," was the confession of their 
very enemies. And yet we know that 
for all this, there was no time-serving con- 
cession of principles, or yielding up of 
truths which ought to be maintained. 
We all remember how, when St. Peter 
was to be blamed, St. Paul withstood him 
to the face ; and how so sharp a conten- 
tion arose between St. Paul and St. Bar- 
nabas, that "they departed asunder the 
one from the other." And yet we may 
be sure that there was no breach of 
Christian communion between them. In 
the essentials of religion, in those things, 
that is, where belief affects salvation, they 
walked by the same rule, they minded 
the same thing. And where, in things 
of lower consequence, they differed, each 
acted according to his honest opinion, 
and gave his brother credit for doing the 
hke. 

Let their example be a guide to us. 
Let us learn from them sometliing of that 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 120 

spirit of Christian charity, which, ''re- 
joiceth not m iniquity, but rejoiceth in 
the truth, which beareth all things, be- 
heveth all things, hopeth all things, en- 
dureth all things." The better we think 
of our neighbor, and the worse we tliink 
of ourselves, the more likely are we to 
be right in our judgment. The more 
we have salt in ourselves, the more glad 
shall 'we be to have peace one with 
another. 

It is a very easy thing to make a show 
of being rehgious. There is little diffi- 
culty in working ourselves up into a state 
of excitement about the so-called religious 
questions of the day. A mere smatter- 
ing of knowledge will enable us to talk 
boldly and fluently on the subject. A 
very little cleverness and assurance will 
enable us to silence grave, earnest-mind- 
ed persons, for they will not condescend 
to argue with us. And we shall not have 
much trouble in deceiving ourselves into 
the behef that we are a great deal wiser 
and better than our elders, our appoint- 
ed ministers, or even than the Church her- 
self. 



130 HOLINESS IN OURSELVES, 

If to have these outward signs of reH- 
gious fanaticism is to be held tantamount 
to being reUgious, rehgion is a much 
easier thing than the Bible represents it. 
But it is a thing which, though it may 
amuse the head, will never amend the 
heart. It may interest the fancy, and ex- 
cite the imagination, but it will have no 
effect upon our lives and manners. From 
such a religion, and from those who so 
exemplify it, let us turn away. Pure re- 
hgion and undefiled before God and the 
Father is a widely different matter, and 
they who exercise it will find httle in it 
that is easy, even though in its difficulties 
there is the accompaniment of a present 
reward. If we would be consistently and 
truly religious, we must have salt in our- 
selves and have peace one with another. 
In all that relates to ourselves we must 
be strict, unsparing, merciless. In what 
relates to our neighbors we must be full 
of tenderness and compassion, ready to 
meet them haff way, and put the best 
construction on all they do. We must 
distrust ourselves, our motives, our tem- 
pers, our judgments. We must learn to 
think meanly of ourselves, and not to be 



AND FORBEARANCE TO OTHERS. 131 

offended when others think meanly of us. 
We must learn to hold our thou^^hts and 
words in control. AA'e nnist beware how 
we get into ways which may prove a 
snare to us by making us insincere. 
Above all we must take heed how we 
condemn our neighbor. Of ourselves, 
and our own errors and transgressions 
we may know all that we will : but of 
him, we can know but httle : of liis mo- 
tives, his opportunities, and the excuses 
that are to be made for him, we must con- 
tinue in ignorance. The only questions 
of any consequence as respects him are, 
whether we have helped him by word 
and good example, and whether (if need 
has arisen) we have forgiven him as God 
for Christ's sake forgave us ? 

As respects ourselves, however, there 
is a question which it behooves us often to 
ask ourselves, and diligently to answer ; 
and that question is this : " Who art thou 
that judgest another man's servant ? To 
his own master he standeth or falleth .... 
But why dost thou judge thy brother ? or 
why dost thou set at naught thy brother? 
For we shall all stand before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ." 



SERMON VIL 

ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

Matthew xii. 36. 

I say unto you, that every idle vrord that men shall 
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judg- 
ment. 

This text, inasmuch as it affords us a 
sample of the extent to which the in- 
quiry will be carried, and of the minute- 
ness and particularity of the investigation 
which will take place at the last day, may 
be considered one of the most awful and 
alarming passages that is to be found in 
the whole compass of the revealed Will 
of God. 

It is enough to make our very hearts 
die within us, to reflect that for every 
wicked word we shall be judged on that 
day in which the balance shall be struck 
between good and evil, and our lots be 
cast in heaven or hell. 

It is terrible enough to thaik of what 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 133 

may be the amount of evil, — known, and 
confessed, and unquestioned cvil^ which 
may fall from the hps of any one of us, 
in any single year of our hves : but the 
Scripture I have just read to you teaches 
us, that for every idle word that men shall 
speak, they shall give account thereof in 
the day of judgment. 

Every idle word, every thoughtless 
speech, every unprofitable, unedifying 
conversation, every frivolous and foolish 
remark, everything that we ourselves 
should be the first to pronounce not worth 
repeatmg, will be repeated in the face of 
the assembled world, before men and 
angels, and form part of the Accuser's 
charges against us. 

The blasphemer, and the profane 
swearer, will hear their sentence of well- 
deserved condemnation: this we know 
from many a passage of Holy Writ ; but 
if this be the case, how can we hesitate 
to infer from the text before us, that he 
who speaks hghtly or irreverently of Holy 
things, — who can point a jest with scrip- 
tural quotation, — who presumes to trifle 
with the Law of God, by softening down 



134 ON SINS OF IHE TONGUE. 

or explaining away what that has strictly 
enjoined, — or who talks at all about reli- 
gion, when he knows that his doing so, 
will expose it to the mocking of unholy 
tongues ; how, I say, can we hesitate to 
infer that such a person has involved him- 
self in an amount of guilt, as great as it 
is probably unsuspected, and that he will 
be judged hereafter with a very different 
judgment, and by a very different rule, 
from that which he at present expects ? 

'' Whoremongers and adulterers," our 
Bible tells us, "will God judge :" and the 
same volume assures us, that " he that 
looketh on a v/oman to lust after her, 
hath already committed adultery with 
her in his heart." — Such being the case, 
can we fail to draw the conclusion wliich 
my text renders so obvious, that the 
expression of implied impurity, — the 
words which raise or encourage a sen- 
sual thought, the sentence uttered with 
a double sense — language such as the 
world uses when it would palliate the 
enormous guilt of fornication and adul- 
tery, and which in its way is to speak as 
tliough things were venial, because they 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 135 

are common, — shall we fail to draw the 
conclusion, that any language, in short, 
which has uncleannes^ in its source, or 
Avhich fosters, however remotely, those 
fleshly lusts which war against the soul, — 
is hateful in the sight of Him, Who is 
Purity itself, and readeth hearts ; and that 
it will he judged by Him hereafter, with 
a righteous judgment ? 

" AU hars," saith the Word of God, 
*' shall have their part in the lake which 
burnetii with fire and brimstone, wliich 
is the second death :" and in this fearful 
doom is to be comprised not only he that 
maketh," but he that "loveth a he." 

Seeing, then, that these things are so, 
can we avoid tlie manifest deduction 
from my text, namely, that they whose 
conversation is chiefly about their neigh- 
bors' actions, and who, (in order to make 
that conversation agreeable and amusing 
in the opinion of the world) are perpetu- 
aUy on the look-out for anecdotes of their 
neighbors' folhes and infirmities, — who 
repeat without scruple the tales and cal- 
umnies of the day, — who purposely mis- 
represent, or who carelessly exaggerate, — 

7 



136 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

who tell the truth, but not the whole 
truth, — shall, in proportion to their error, 
be called on to account for it, before the 
judgnaent seat of Christ ? 

And, to quote one more instance, — 
(common enough, it is to be feared, in the 
present times, and therefore very needful 
for the consideration of all), — we are 
solemnly warned by St. Peter, that they 
who " speak evil" of their fellow-chris- 
tians " shall give an account" thereof " to 
Him that is ready to judge the quick and 
the dead." For the calumniator, there- 
fore, of his neighbor's good deeds and 
motives, for the censorious, for the back- 
biter, for the mischief-maker, for the 
mahgnant and uncharitable man who 
arraigns the sincerity aud disinterested- 
ness of those with whose rehgious opi- 
nions he disagrees, the vengeance of God 
is preparing. He that judgeth his bro- 
ther, shall himself be judged : he that 
condemneth his brother, shall himself be 
condemned. 

Now if this be true, — and who shall 
gainsay it? — Can we any of us read the 
solenni warning of the Saviour in my 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 137 

text, that " every idle word that men shall 
speak, they shall give account thereof in 
the day of judgment," and reading it, can 
we lull ourselves into the beUef that it is 
innocent, that it is harmless, that it is safe^ 
to make those questions which are agitat- 
ing and distracting our Church, a subject 
of connnon conversation, on common 
occasions ? — That we shall not be held 
responsible for it, if by any word of our's 
we increase existing animosities and di- 
visions ? — If we alloAv ourselves to make 
use of party epithets, to talk irreverently 
and uncharitably, to put stumbhng-blocks 
in the way of weaker brethren, to say 
anything which, if repeated, will excite 
angry feelings and irritation among those 
with whom we differ : to disseminate 
those unprofitable, or ill-natured rumors 
of the day, with respect to the excesses 
(whether on one side or the other) of 
those who maintain extreme opinions, 
and whose judgment may not be as 
sound as their intentions are pure ? 

I know hoAv httle scruple many have 
in doing these things ; I know how easy 
is the process of self-deception, how easy 



138 ON SIKS OF THE TOXCriU 

to persuade oneself that denunciation of 
error is a duty of all persons at all tinie«s 
that not to maintain what we beheve to 
be truth is to betray it. and that that is re- 
ligious and edifying conversation, which, 
in point of fact, is httle^nore than tattling 
and censoriousness, I know how httle 
apt we are to suspect oiu motives in such 
matters, or to consider whether our ap- 
parent zeal may not be a cloak for mah- 
ciousness or some evil temper : but it is 
impossible not to trace the perilous ef- 
fects which this sort of hcense produces 
on the souls of individuals, and it is no 
difficult task to perceive the evil which it 
brings upon the Chiu-ch. and. therefore, I 
come to the conclusion that herein an 
offence is committed against Gt>d. for 
which- as for more obvious transgres- 
sions, men vrUl be held accountable here- 
al\er. 

Having made these observations, I pro- 
ceed to offer some remarks on the cir- 
cumstances under which the words of 
the text were spoken. 

It appears that, on a certain occasion, 
some ^vTetched being had been brought 



OH 8IKS OP THE TOXSrE. 139 

to our Lord. - possessed with a devil * — 
one, in whom, besides the asaal charac- 
teristics of possession, there were united 
the terrible affliclioas of the loss of sight 
and speech- 

At the word of the Redeemer the evil 
spirit was cast forth, and, immediately, 
'•the blind and ilumb both spake and 
saw." The Pharisees, unable to deny the 
miracle, yet tmwilling to admit the Di- 
vine authority of our blessed Lord, attri- 
buted the cure to the agency of the chief 
of the devils, even while their own hearts 
must have borne them wimess. that so 
gracious and merciful an act could only 
have emanated from the Author of all 
good. — the Holy Spirit of God. 

Our Saviour reminded them of this, 
and pressed upon them the argument, 
that if Satan were to cast out devils. — ^tf 
the foune of evil was to become the de- 
stroyer of evil his kingdom would come 
to an end. and the powers of hell be 
overthrown. But our Lord's address to 
the Pharisees did not end here. They 
had been guilty of the most fearful sin 
into which man. — at that tiiae, and in 



140 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. ■ 

their days, — could fall; and, therefore, 
that Saviour whom they denied, in His 
love and mercy, proceeded to warn them 
of it. They had been guilty of that blas- 
phemy, which Scripture designates as 
the " sin against the Holy Ghost ;" they 
had involved themselves in the guilt of 
that one sin, which the Word of God de- 
clares can never be forgiven. 

The nature of their sin was this : see- 
ing the miracles which Jesus did, and 
knowing in their own minds that they 
were done "with the finger of God," 
these ujihappy men wilfully hardened 
their hearts, and professed to believe that 
God's work was the work of devils. 

Now, why was this sin unpardonable ? 
Simply for this reason, — because, as it is 
the Holy Ghost alone Who leads men to 
repentance, puts into their minds good 
desires, and gives them grace to bring 
the same to good effect, so long as any 
persons deny the Godhead and power of 
the Holy Ghost, refuse Him admission 
into their hearts, and wilfully and obsti- 
nately blaspheme His name, so long is it 
impossible that they should ever be led 



ON STNS OF THE TONGUE. 141 

to faith and repentance; and without 
faith and repentance none can enter into 
the kingdom of Heaven. Sin against 
the Holy Ghost, therefore, is unpardona- 
ble, not because He will not jjardon, but 
because men will not accept His forgive- 
ness. Sin against the Holy Ghost is un- 
pardonable, because, in rejecting Him, 
men reject the only means by which 
they can be forgiven. 

The Spirit of God strives with them, 
warns them, admonishes them unceas- 
ingly, by that voice of conscience which 
He has placed within them ; but if, in 
spite of this. He is dehberately blasphem- 
ed and rejected. He can do no more. Al- 
mighty though He be, it is not in the 
scope of His designs to force men to re- 
ceive Him against their will ; else they 
would no longer be free-agents. There- 
fore, when He is finally rejected, the sin- 
ner must be left to his fate ; to remain 
unforgiven in this world, and also in that 
which is to come. 

There is consolation, brethren, in the 
thought, that it is scarcely possible, per- 
haps, for Christians at the present day to 



142 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

fall into that precise degree of sin, of 
which our Lord warned the hard-hearted 
Pharisees. 

But if we have ground of consolation, 
it behooves ^s to remember that we have 
also abundant need of watchfulness. We 
may not be in great danger of commit- 
ting the sin against the Holy Ghost of 
which the Gospel speaks ; but ever}^ icil- 
ful sin at least tends that way. When- 
ever we purposely and dehberately break 
one single vow which we made at Bap- 
tism, whenever we knowingly resist Him, 
Whose temples we are, whenever we 
intentionally grieve Him, and harden our 
hearts against His admonitions and His 
grace, we are most assuredly on the same 
path (though we may not have advanced 
far along it) with those who in the end 
committed a sin which was unpardona- 
ble. Six transgressions there are espe- 
cially, which, as holy men have taught 
us, do forerun the sin against the Spirit 
of God : despair of salvation, presump- 
tion of God's mercy, impugning known 
truth, envy at another's grace, obstinacy 
in sin, and impenitence. Now, in some 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 143 

of these offences the tongue must be the 
offendijig member, in all of them it may 
be. Let this thought make us ever more 
and more watchful over our words, and 
more and more careful in discipUning 
those hearts, out of whose abundance 
our mouths speak. 

This was the point which, on the oc- 
casion of which we are speaking, our 
blessed Lord urged upon the Pharisees. 
He intimated to them that there was ut- 
ter inconsistency between their words 
and actions : He taught them that lan- 
guage such as theirs could only be the 
index of a thoroughly depraved heart 
" Either," said He, " riiake the tree good, 
and his fruit good, or else make the tree 
corrupt, and his fruit coiTupt : for \he tree 
is known by his fruit." In vain, that is, 
do you Pharisees pretend to hohness of 
heart, while with your mouths ye speak 
such blasphemies ; for as a tree is known 
by his fruit, so a man's words are the 
signs of the disposition of liis heart 
Either, therefore, forbear blaspheming, or 
else pretend not to reUgion at all. And 
yet, " O generation of \dpers, how can ye^ 



144 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

being evil, speak good things?" Your 
li(3arts are evil, and "out of the abun- 
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 
A good man out of the good treasure of 
the heart bringeth forth good things; and 
an evil man out of the evil treasure of 
his heart bringeth forth evil things/' And 
more than this, — (it is thus I would ven- 
ture to paraphrase the passage), not a 
word you utter falls to the ground un- 
heeded. Nothing spoken by man is a mat- 
ter of indifference. If it is not good, it is 
evil Evil words shall of course be pun- 
ished ; they are tokens of an e\il heart : 
but evil words are not the only things for 
which you will be held responsible, for 
"I say unto you that every idk word 
that men shall speak, they shall give ac- 
count thereof iii the day of judgment." 
By your words as well as by your actions 
you shall be judged, be those words never 
so trivial or unimportant : " By thy words 
thou shalt be justified, and by thy words 
thou shalt be condemned." 

Such, bretliren, were the arguments 
addressed by our mercilul Lord to tlie 
Pharisees of His day, and such were His 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 145 

warnings; and we must be very presump- 
tuous, or very careless, if they fail to 
awaken in us a sense of the dangers into 
which we are hable to fall, unless, like 
the Psalmist, we pray the Lord continu- 
ally to '' set a watch before our mouths, 
and to keep the door of our lips." 

But God will never help us, where we 
do not endeavor to help ourselves. His 
strength is the remedy for our weakness, 
not of our indolence. And it were as 
vain to expect that we should be preserv- 
ed from "offending with our tongue," 
unless we avail ourselves of the means 
which are within the reach of everybody 
for keeping our mouths as it were with 
a bridle, as it would be to expect God to 
feed us as He did Elijah, without our 
using any exertion of our own to pro- 
cure our food. 

The lesson you have heard to-day may 
for the time, make you think seriously of 
the nature of sins of the tongue : but the 
feeUng will be a transient one, and you 
will return to your former carelessness, 
unless you take active measures for getting 
the mastery over yourselves. The pow- 



146 ON SINS OF THE TOXGUE- 

er of rontrol does not come of itself: it 
is, under grace, the result of a confirmed 
habit, — the consequence of many pett}'' 
victories, in many petty conflicts. 

Now these incessant struggles with our 
natural inclinations and impulses, in mat- 
ters which seem at that moment of no 
great consequence, are among the most 
irksome to which we are exposed in the 
c ourse of our spiritual trial. But if they 
be ii'ksome, they are by no means unim- 
portant. It is by these Uttle matters, and 
our behavior in them, that our sincerit}^ is 
tested ; by them God judges whetlier we 
are in earnest in our professions, whether 
we desire to serve Him or no. He knows 
full well that it is often a sore trial for us 
not to render railing for railing : He knows 
what pain and grief it is for us to hold 
our tongues and speak nothing under 
calumny,misrepresentation, and injustice. 
He knows that the liar, the swearer, the 
foul and filthy talker, must all have great 
and continual difficulties in the task of 
reformation. For by the mouth of His 
holy Apostle He has warned us, that "the 
tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly 



ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 147 

poison ;" and has declared that " if any 
man oli'end not in ivord, the same is a 
perfect man, and able also to bridle the 
whole body." 

But our heavenly Father, Who know- 
eth whereof we are made, has given us 
the grace of the Holy Ghost to aid us in 
dithculties wliich are really beyond our 
power ; and, for the rest, QXQxy one of us 
knows that, to a great extent, he can, if 
he will, preserve himself from sins of the 
tongue ; and that care, and prayer, and 
watchfulness, and a determination to 
think of Avhat we are about to say, before 
we begin to speak, are means which will 
not only preserve us from more flagrant 
offences of the lips, but from those habits 
of " idle " conversation which many think 
so venial, but wliich are, in truth, so peri- 
lous. 

In conclusion. We are not our own ; 
we have been bought with a price ; and, 
therefore, we must glorify God in our 
bodies, and m our spuits, which are God's. 
All must be done as becometh Christians. 
Ever}^ member must be discipUned into 
obedience unto the head. All that offends 



148 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

must be cut off, plucked up, rooted out. 
The tongue as well as the eye, the hand, 
and the foot, must do the will of Him 
Who made it. Therefore, brethren, look 
well to yourselves, and see ivhat are those 
things you chiefly talk about, and how far 
they tend to edifying. 

I do not tell you that religious subjects 
are to be the only subjects upon which 
earnest-minded men will speak. There 
is a rehgion of the hps, which is very dif- 
ferent from the rehgion of the heart, and 
wliich is oftentimes the mask of hypo- 
crisy, and oftener still the nurse of spirit- 
ual pride and self deception. Rather, I 
would say, that those who are most re- 
ligious would be too reverential to speak 
much about it in ordinary conversation. 
But if called upon to state what the fa- 
miliar discourse of Christians ought to 
be, I would point out some things which 
are quite indispensable, and describe it 
generally as innocent, harmless, such as 
angels may hsten to, and such as may 
in no way tend to liinder our growth in 
grace. 

And much that is tolerated in the com- 



OM SINS OF THE TONGUE. 14 9 

mon converse of society is none of these 
things. Do you ask me what I mean ? I 
reply, that my meaning is, that neither 
indehcacy, nor filthiness, nor foohsh talk- 
ing, are harmless, or innocent, or edify- 
ing. I mean, that to " make a mock at 
sin," or retail the deeds of those who com- 
mit it, is not harmless. I mean, that 
trifling and frivolity are not harmless. I 
mean, that to utter those conventional 
falsehoods which the world counts as no 
falsehood, is not harmless. I mean, that 
to tell tales and anecdotes of scandal 
is not harmless. I mean, that to en- 
courage religious dissension, by par- 
ty language, uncharitable censures, irri- 
tating remarks, is not harmless. I mean, 
that no one word which we utter, is harm- 
less, which can either derogate from God's 
honor, or put a stumbhng-block in the 
way of a fellow-creature. 

Of these things, I most solemnly warn 
you, as knowing that "for every idle word" 
which you shall here speak, you shall 
hereafter be judged. And I exhort you 
to remember, that however high may be 
your advance in holiness in|other respects, 



150 ON SINS OF THE TONGUE. 

however high your profession, if you give 
way to sins of the tongue, your labor will 
be all in vain : that if you otiend in this 
one point, you shall be held guilt}^ of ail : 
that though you had all faith so that you 
could remove mountains, and had not 
charity (in word as well as deed), it would 
profit you nothing : that there is one text 
laid down in Scripture, by which you may 
try yourselves, with the certainty that you 
cannot be misled by it : and that text is 
this : "If any man among you seem to be 
religious, and hridkth not his tongue, but 
deceiveth his own heart, this man's re- 
hgion is vain^ 



SERMON VIII. 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 



IMalaciii i. 6. 



A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master : if 
tlien I be a Father, where is Mine honor ? and if I be a Mas- 
ter, where is My fear ? saith the Lord of hosts. 

There is a sin which is so common among 
ns, — and which is so bound up with our 
Avhole tone of thought and action, — 
wliich pervades the people of this coun- 
try, high and low, so universally, that we 
have almost ceased to look upon it as a 
sin. Many of us, probably, if charged 
with it, would be quite unconscious of 
ha\dng been guilty of it, and still more 
of us would, in all likelihood, feel them- 
selves injured if it was hinted to them 
that, as a nation, we are altogether de- 
fective in one of the very first principles 
of all religion, whether true or false. 
The sin to which I allude is that of Ir- 



152 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

reverence, — a want of respect for the pre- 
sence, power, and majesty of God, aris- 
ing from thoughtlessness or practical un- 
behef 

Now, I shall not deem it necessary to 
prove to you, that God has a right to ex- 
pect from us the fullest tribute of venera- 
tion which we can offer, for this truth is 
a self-evident one. He is the Creator ; 
we are the creatures : He is the Redeem- 
er ; we are they whom he has purchased 
to Himself: He is the Sanctiiier ; we are 
they who need sanctification : He is Eter- 
nal, Almighty, Infinite ; we are mortal 
weak, finite : He is all fight and goodness 
and purity, and truth ; we are poor mis 
erable sinners, grovelfing on the earth 
lying in darkness, and m the shadow of 
death, full of guilt and corruption, and 
unable, by any efiforts of our own, to 
guide our feet into the way of peace. To 
Him we owe ever}'thing that we are, or 
have, or hope for, and therefore to Him 
is due the acknowledgment thereof. As 
His mercy claims our love, so do His 
power and goodness our reverence. 

This is a conclusion at which we must 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 153 

have arrived, if we had only the light of 
nature, as it is called, to direct us; but 
in addition to this kind of witness within 
ourselves, we have the testimony of Scrip- 
ture afforded us in the fullest manner ; so 
much so, indeed, that there is, perhaps, 
no one duty so continually enjoined upon 
us in the Sacred volume as this of Reve- 
rence. 

The very ^beginning of wisdom, we 
are taught, — its foundation as well as its 
superstructure — is to be laid in "the fear 
of the Lord." Him, the Psalmist tells us, 
we must t" serve with fear, and rejoice 
before Him Avith reverence." X " His se- 
cret is with them that fear Him," — " His 
eye" is " upon them ;" His " Angel en- 
campeth round about them, and dehvereth 
them;" His §" blessing," His "salvation," 
and His " mercy," are " with them that 
fear Him from generation to generation." 
And, therefore, it is, that the Apostle tells 
us, to II " perfect hohn ess in the fear of God," 
— to " work out our own salvation with 

* Prov. i. 7. t PsaJm ii. 11. 

X Psalm XXV. 14. ; xxxiii. 18. ; xxxiv. 7. 

§ Psalm cxii. 1,; Ixxxv. 9. ; Luke i. 50. 

II 2 Cor. vii. ; PhU. ii. 12. ; 1 Peter i. 17. ; Heb. xii. 28. 



154 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

fear and trembling," — to " pass the time 
of our sojourning here in fear," — and to 
" serve God acceptably with reverence 
and godly fear, for our God is a consum- 
ing fire." 

But it is needless to multiply quota- 
tions. As Christians we believe, or at 
least profess to beUeve, that in order to 
serve God acceptably, we must serve 
Him " with reverence and godly fear," 
and this is the point on which I am pre- 
pared to maintain that we are lamentably 
defective, so much so, that the reproof 
addressed to Israel in the days of Mala- 
chi, may, with as great, or even greater, 
appropriateness be applied to ourselves. 
" A son honoreth his father, and a servant 
his master : if I then be a father, where 
is Mine honor ? and if I be a master, 
where is My fear? saith the Lord of 
hosts." The censure was, in the first 
instance, applied to the Priests, who had 
rendered '- the table of tlie Lord con- 
temptible," and dishonored His altars. 
They seem to have thought anythmg 
good enough for Him, and His service. 
His house lay desolate, while theii own 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. lijG 

were ceiled with cedar, and painted with 
verniiUon. Tiieir tables were covered 
with luxuries, they ate the fat and drunk 
the sweet, while, upon Ills ahars, they of- 
fered polluted victims, cheap and refuse, 
to Ilirn they "brou<':ht that which was 
torn, and the lame and the sick." Un- 
der such disgraceful circumstances, well 
might it be asked by the offended Ma- 
jesty of Heaven ; " If I be a father, where 
is Mine honor? and if I be a master, 
where is My fear?" As a father, His 
children had shown Ilim no love ; as a 
master and Lord, the tribute of their 
reverence had been withholdcn frorh 
Him. 

But, brethren, in our own case, that 
A\'hich was the sin of the priests, has 
ceased to be confined to the priests alone. 
As it was with the priests, so is it now 
with the people, or, perhaps, so is it with 
all. We do not deny that God is our 
Father and Master. Far otherwise. With 
our lips we readily acknowledge Him, 
but our hearts are far from Him. We do 
not consider the force of our words, when 
we confess Him, or what they involve 



156 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

We speak of Him as our Father and 
Master, but we tacitly persuade ourselves 
that in His case the paternal and domes- 
tic relation is something different from 
what it is among ourselves ; that we are 
not His servants and children, in the same 
sense as we are with regard to such of our 
fellow- creatures as hold such a connexion 
with us. And in one respect we are not, 
for in addition to all that the most af- 
fectionate child and devoted servant can 
pay, God has this further claim upon us, 
that He is our God. But this is a con- 
sideration from which we shrink, and so 
endeavor to persuade ourselves that His 
Godhead rather diminishes than en- 
hances His claims upon us on other 
grounds. We give Him the cold ac- 
knowledgment that we beheve in Him as 
our God : but we do not attempt to realize 
and exhibit that fervor of love and reve- 
rence, which we should exhibit towards 
an adored parent or master. We have 
little of that ever-present awe which 
would not fail to affect us if we habitu- 
ated ourselves to think of Him as He 
really is. 



CHRISTIAN IlEVEllENCE. 157 

To exemplify what I mean by a paral- 
lel instance among ourselves to that 
which formed the subject of one of the 
prophet Malaclii's reproofs. Irreverence 
was shown in his day by the character 
of the of le rings made to God. Instead 
of bihiging the firsthngs of the flock, — 
the best and most perfect, the men of 
that day thought it suflicient to sacrifice 
what was torn and crippled, what was 
cheap and paltry, and would be of no 
value in the market. They offered to 
God of that wliich cost them notliing. 
Now we have no temptation to commit 
precisely the same kind of sin, but in the 
nearest approximation to it of wliich our 
circumstances admit, we are just as guilty 
as the house of Israel. Look at the state 
of our Churches ; their decay, their dirt, 
their damp, their sordid neglect : hear the 
grudging, niggardly words of those who 
are called upon to repair them: examine 
the spirit in which those repairs are car- 
ried on. I do not mean that there are not 
praiseworthy exceptions; but viewing 
the case generally, must it not be owned 
that there are very few places in which 



158 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

cheapness has not been the first conside- 
ration in church-repairs ? Weil, there- 
fore, may God demand of us, the richest 
as well as the most covetous people on 
earth, " If I be a father, where is J\Iine 
honor? and if I be a master, where is 
My fear?" It is true that God dwelleth 
not in temples made with hands; and 
the most glorious pile that man could 
erect would be all unworthy of Him : but 
so it was true, likewise, of old time, that 
He needed not the offerings of Israel. 
" All the beasts of the forest are 'Mine : 
and so are the cattle upon a thousand 
hills. If I be hungry, I will not tell thee : 
for the whole world is Mine, and all that 
is therein." Yet as, in the one case, He 
declared that the paltriness of the offer- 
ings had polluted His altars, and made 
His table contemptible, so, on the other, 
we may not doubt that for us Church- 
men to permit our churches to continue 
in then present condition, is an oflence 
no less heinous in His sight. It is a proof 
that we do not care to honor Him, an 
evidence that we do not fear Him, a cer- 
tahi token of irreverence. 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 159 

But it may be said that an excuse for 
the state of our churches may be found 
in the local circumstances of particular 
parishes, and that at any rate, so as our 
hearts be right, it matters little under 
what external circumstances we worship. 
The Israelites might have offered a simi- 
lar plea. 

But admitting the fact for argument's 
sake, let us take this view of the subject, 
and examine whether our hearts are right, 
and whether we liave as much reverence 
for God's presence in His house as we 
ought to have. I know no passage of 
Scripture which tells me that God with- 
draws Himself from His consecrated 
dwellings, when the service of prayer 
has ceased : rather, I mfer, that they are 
" a settled place for Him to abide in for 
ever." But even were this not so, were 
God only in His church occasionally, 
surely, a spot which He from time to time 
visits with His presence is holy ground. 
And yet, how do we use it ? If a church 
be entered when no service is bemg per- 
formed, are there many who have much 
scruple in treating it as if it were an or- 

8 



160 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

diiiary room? Do they not talk loud, 
and carelessly, as if there were nothing 
sacred in it? If curiosity leads them 
there, will they not be iprying about, and 
criticising, perhaps, within the precinct of 
our Holy of hohes, the Lord's table ? If 
a parish meeting is to be held, will not 
the church, in some places, be the scene 
of brawling and mutual recriminations 
between persons who are opposed to one 
another elsewhere ? If church-repairs be 
going on, will not the workmen be usu- 
ally found with their hats on, as if there 
were no peculiar sanctity in the scene of 
their labors ? Now, would not such in- 
stances as these (and I might mention 
many more such, and far more painful 
ones, tliat have come within my own ex- 
perience) go far to show that th pirit of 
reverence must be at a very low ebb 
among us ? They indeed who do such 
things, do them without any intention of 
offending God. They do not think about 
Him : but this is their sin. 

And now to go a step further. Is there 
any difficulty in tracing the same fright- 
ful spirit of irreverence in congregations 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 161 

of Christian men assembled for public 
worship? If we beheve anything that 
God tells us, we must believe this, that 
where two or three are gathered together 
in His name He is in the midst of them. 
And, surely, if we at all realized this 
truth, we should have some awe of com- 
ing into God's presence, especially as we 
come there to confess ourselves misera- 
ble sinners, who have need of pardon. 
But what is the sight which obtrudes it- 
self upon our notice almost every Sun- 
day ? Are there not those who seem to 
study nothing but their own convenience, 
as to the time when they shall reach 
church ; and who think it no disgrace 
to themselves, nor interruption to the 
congregation, that they come in late, 
Sunday after Sunday, and who thus ven- 
ture to join in acts of prayer and praise 
without having first confessed their sins ? 
Is it anytliing unusual to find persons 
who will not give themselves the trou- 
ble to join in a single response from one 
end of the ser\ice to the other? Is it a 
thing unheard of, that there should be 
whispering and talking in God's house ? 



162 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

Are persons never to be seen, whose habit 
it is to be staring about them, instead of 
attending, or laughing with one another 
(I almost tremble to speak of it), when 
they ought to be praying to God to save 
them from hell-iire ? Are there none 
who are too idle to stand or kneel, as the 
Church directs them ? And even where 
outward behavior is decent are there 
none of us who join in the prayers with- 
out attending to them, and so make 
them a mockery ? Are there none (and 
this is a most awful consideration) who 
even approach the Lord's Table without 
at all reahzing to themselves that there 
the Body and Blood of Clirist are aterily 
and INDEED taken and received by the 
faithful ? And who thereby become par- 
takers of the sin of Israel in its most ag- 
gravated form, by making " the table of 
the Lord contemptible." 

Now I appeal to your hearts and con- 
sciences when I ask, would any one of 
these tilings be done, if there were that 
deep spirit of reverence and godly fear 
among us, wherewith the Almighty can 
alone be acceptably served ? 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 163 

But it is not in God's house only that 
we show our indifference to Him. The 
manner in which we treat His Name, His 
Day, His Word, His Ministers, as well as 
His Sacraments and Worship, all is so 
much evidence against us that we have 
not that abiding awe of Him which is 
due to Him. We receive the Bible as 
His Word, and we read it, but then, how 
do we read it ? Some of us rarely, many 
of us as a mere task. We read the words, 
but do not study them, or try to get an 
insight into their meaning. We do not 
even try to realize the threatenings or the 
promises of Scripture. We do not con- 
sider Whose Word it is. If we did, we 
should not argue about it, or talk confi- 
dently of understanding it, or speculate 
rashly upon its mysteries. Least of all 
should we be quarrelsome and conten- 
tious about it, but humble, and diffident, 
and docile, and thankful. 

Again, look at His Name and Day, and 
ask yourselves how far you give them the 
reverence that is due them? I will take 
for granted, that no one of you is a pro- 
fane swearer, for of all irreverent acts, 



164 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

that is the most irreverent. No one who 
is guilty of it can pretend to the name of 
Christian : it is a sin which goes as far as 
any to forfeit baptismal grace : it is a sin 
for which, if there be any truth in the 
Word of God, hell-fire is prepared. But 
if you be no swearers yourselves, do you 
allow an oath in others ? do you hear it, 
and let it go by unreproved ? Why, if 
you had any adequate reverence for God, 
you would withdraw from the swearer's 
company as from one infected with the 
plague, as dreading lest the earth should 
open and swallow him up quick, or the 
roof should fall down and crush him. 
For whose name is it that he takes in 
vain ? Is it not that of the High and Lofty 
One, that inhabiteth Eternity, Whose 
Name is Holy, the King Immortal, Invi- 
sible, Whom no man can see and hve ? 
Can audacity and presumption go fur- 
ther than using that Name lightly ? 

So again, we ourselves hallow God's 
Sabbaths up to a certain point. We at- 
tend Church, and observe a certain gra- 
vity and restraint in our words and actions 
for the remainder of the day. But what 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 165 

a service is this ! how poor, how feeble, 
how cold ! Surely, if there was anything 
like a real reverence for the Lord our 
God among us, we should serve Him 
with fear, and rejoice with trembling, af- 
ter a very different fashion from that in 
which we now observe Ilis day. Our 
worship then would bear some resem- 
blance to the worship of heaven ; our rest 
would have in it some foretaste of that 
"rest which remaineth to the people of 
God." 

Look once more to the evidence which 
our treatment of the Church and her Mi- 
nisters affords of the irreverential spirit 
which has spread among us, and eats us 
up like a canker. If we did more than 
profess to stand in awe of God, should 
we adopt the coarse, bad habits of the 
world, in its way of thinking and speak- 
ing about both? Should we, with re- 
spect to our IMinisters, allow ourselves to 
think more of the faults, and follies, and 
foibles of the man, than of his office in 
the Church of God? Should we forget 
that he, albeit unworthy, is the earthly 
representative of Christ to us, — that he 



166 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

hath received the power of binding and 
loosing-, and the gift of the Holy Ghcst 
for his Priestly office, by the imposition 
of hands, — that he alone has authorit}' to 
administer the Sacraments, and to offer 
up prayers for the congregation, — and 
that of Mm the Saviour hath declared, 
" He that heareth you, heareth Me ; and 
he that despiseth you, despiseth Me ; and 
he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that 
sent Me?" 

And so with regard to the Church, that 
Holy Communion of Saints, of wliich we 
are members ; if the spirit of reverence 
were within us, instead of \ieAving it like 
a mere human thing, for rude fingers to 
touch, and unchastened tongues to speak 
about, we should contemplate it, as m- 
deed it is, the awful fabric raised by those 
Hands "WTiich the nails pierced ; cement- 
ed together by Blood Which issued from 
the Wounded Side ; His dweUing-place ; 
the token of His presence ; One, Holy, 
Cathohc ; the haven of the broken-heart- 
ed, the heritage of the faitliful, the home 
of Saints. 

Lastly, — (and so deeply imbued are we 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 167 

with the spirit of iiTeverence, that I al- 
most dread to dwell on the topic, lest I 
should subject it to profane discussion) 
what shall be said of the manner in which 
we treat the Sacraments ? Are there not 
some who would cast aside the thought 
of their pre-eminent sanctity, and lower 
them into mere signs and memorials? 
Are there not those who, in the face of 
Scripture and the Church, deny that the 
Holy Spirit is vouchsafed to the faithful 
in one, and the Lord Christ Himself, His 
body, and His blood, received in a spuit- 
ual manner in the other? And, is not 
the result of tliis, that men think lightly 
of the infringement of their baptismal 
vows, and turn their backs upon the Holy 
Eucharist, or partake of it as if it were 
scarce different from a common meal? 
Once more I ask, could such things be, 
if we at all reahzed to ourselves, that, in 
order to serve God acceptably, we must 
serve Him "with reverence," and pass 
the time of our sojourning here "in fear?'* 
" A son honor eth his father, and a servant 
his master ; if then I be a Father, where 



8* 



168 CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 

is IVIine honor ? if I be a Master, where 
is My fear? saith the Lord of hosts." 

From what causes such a spirit of ir- 
reverence has grown, and spread till it 
has taken possession of us ; in what was 
its origin ; and how it has been fostered, 
I cannot now stop to express an opinion, 
though these are matters which are very- 
full of interest, and of warning. 

The fact itself is before us, and the bit- 
ter fruits of our profaneness and irrever- 
ence are ripening day by day. What, if 
the time of ingathering be at hand, when 
irreverence shall have passed into profess- 
ed unbelief? ''When the Son of Man 
cometh, shall He find faith in the earth V ' 

I do not say that our national and in- 
dividual irreverence will end in open 
apostasy ; but the tendency is, of course, 
that way ; and we are in the greater peril, 
because the infection has spread both 
silently and universally. We go down 
lower and lower, without suspecting 
where we are. We have, as it were, de- 
stroyed our landmarks : we have left our- 
selves no standard wherewith to try whe- 
ther we are irreverent or no ; — I mean 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 169 

no such standard as may attract and 
rivet the attention of the careless and 
thoughtless, — tliat is of the majority of us. 
What then must be done f A\^e can- 
not, any of us, singly, bring back the 
reverence of a better day, but each, in 
his own person, may train and cultivate 
that spirit of holy fear, without wliich 
God cannot be served acceptably. There- 
fore, let each among us endeavor to real- 
ize to himself, more fully than he has yet 
done, the Presence of God among us. 
He is present in His Church, in His Sa- 
craments, in His IMinisters, in His Poor : 
present among us everywhere, and at all 
seasons ; in the works of nature, and 
revolutions of providence ; in the still 
small voice, and in the temple within us. 
We must bring this thought home to our 
hearts, and awe and reverence will ac- 
company it. We must learn how the 
Church and the Prayerbook teach us to 
show reverence ; and we must walk by 
that rule. We must watch ourselves in 
little things, and reflect continually be- 
fore Whom they are done. We must be 
very careful what we do or say before 



170 CHRISTIAN reverence: 

our children, or our servants, lest they 
should encourage themselves in profane- 
ness, by any act of our's. AVe must avoid 
speaking of religious subjects before those 
who are hkely to ridicule them. And 
yet, we must never be ashamed of ap- 
pearing religious : we must never dread 
being laughed at for obeying God's law. 
We must avoid, as much as possible, 
speaking of the rehgious disputes of the 
day. Notliing encourages hard-hearted- 
ness and profaneness more than a love of 
controversy. We must endeavor, quietly 
and humbly, to raise the standard of re- 
hgious feeling among those with whom 
we hve. And, above all things, we must 
keep watch over the example we are 
setting, and the state of our own minds, 
and the manner in which we habituate 
ourselves to think of God. Strange and 
ungrateful would it be, if His mercies in 
Christ Jesus were not the foremost sub- 
ject of our contemplations ; if we did 
not love Him as tlie God of all comfort, 
"Wlio is full of tender compassion, T\lio 
remembereth whereof we are m ade, and 
pitieth us as a father doth his' children. 



CHRISTIAN REVERENCE. 171 

Bat, as a Father, we must pay Him 
the honor that is due ; and \ve must not 
forget that he is a Master as well as a 
Father, and that, therefore, He claims our 
fear as Avell as our love. He calls us to 
Him lovingiy, but his calls are not to be 
trifled with. He speaks to us with ge ntle 
accents, but wo be to us if w^e refuse or 
think lightly of Him that speaketh : "for 
if they escaped not who refused Him that 
spake on earth, much more shall not we 
escape, if we turn away from Him that 
speaketh from heaven ?" He has given 
us promises, privileges, and made us in- 
heritors of His kingdom : but it were 
better for us that we had never been 
born, than that we should treat any of 
them irreverently. 

^- "Wlierefore, we receiving a kingdom 
which cannot be moved, let us have 
grace, whereby w^e may serve God ac- 
ceptably, with reverence and godly fear. 
For our God U a consuming fire^ 



SERMON IX. 

CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

Luke ix. 62. 

And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand 
to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
God. 

It seems to have been the usual custom 
of our gracious and merciful Lord, both 
to point out to those who seemed inchned 
to become His disciples, that in embrac- 
ing the Gospel, they would expose them- 
selves to a trial of no ordinary severity, 
and also to afford them some opportu- 
nity of testmg the sincerity of their mo- 
tives. 

It was with the first object in \iew, 
that His chosen followers were again and 
again admonished, that they should be 
" dehvered up to councils, and scourged 
in the synagogues," " cast into prisons, 
and brought before rulers and kings ;" 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 173 

that some of them should be '' persecut- 
ed," '' afflicted," and '' killed,"-~and that 
they should be " hated of all nations for 
His name's sake." The high-wrought 
expectations and brilliant day-dreams of 
the temporal glories of Messiah's king- 
dom were annihilated at once ; they were 
taught that His kingdom was not of this 
world ; and that was inculcated upon 
them from the first, which their after- 
experience so abundantly verified, that 
houses and lands, friends and kindred, 
must be resigned when they became 
His disciples, — that all that live godly in 
Christ Jesus must suffer persecution, — 
that if in this life only they had hope in 
Christ, they would be, of all men, the 
most miserable. 

But, besides these kinds of warnings, 
the Redeemer took a further step to bring 
home to the minds of His followers that 
of them much would be required : He 
put them in the way of trying what man- 
ner of men they were, and how they 
really stood affected towards Him. Some, 
therefore, who approached Him most 
eagerly, He, for a while, repelled; of 



174 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION* 

others, He required the sacrifice of that 
one thing which was dearer to them than 
a right hand, or a right eye; to others, 
who were inchned to be offended in 
Him, He spake some yet harder saying, 
which caused them to turn away, and 
others, who loved Him, to chng to Him 
more closely. 

It was, when He had predicted His 
future Ascension, and His knowledge of 
the unbehef of some of His followers, 
that " many of His disciples went back, 
and walked no more with Him ;" but it 
was that very secession which called 
forth the glorious acknowledgment of St. 
Peter, on which the Church is founded. 
" Thou hast the words of eternal life. 
And we beheve, and are sure, that Thou 
art that Christ, the Son of the ]ivmg God." 

The young Ruler, who had great pos- 
sessions, and knew not that he loved 
them better than he did a heavenly trea- 
sure, was tried in the point w^herein he 
was weakest. Li that trial he failed, but 
the event which resulted from it was, 
that thereupon the Lord made His pro- 
mise to those who forsook all and follow- 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 175 

ed Him, that even in this world they 
should receive " an hundred fold, and in 
the world to come, life everlasting." 

The Syro-Phenician was treated at first 
as though, in consequence of her being 
a Gentile, no miracle of mercy could be 
performed on her daug iter; but the ap- 
parent repulse was only intended to test 
her sincerity, and so the end was not 
only that the devil was cast out, but her 
marvellous faith is spoken of in all the 
world, and is the example and comfort of 
all who are named by the name of Christ 
to this day. 

Thus it was, that from time to time, as 
fitting occasion and opportunity offered, 
our blessed Lord instructed His first ad- 
herents to consider well the step they 
were going to take, and to examine into 
the truth of their professions, intimating 
that though there was danger every way, 
the greatest danger lay in the path of 
those who involved themselves in heavy 
responsibihties, without considering and 
ascertaining the nature of the burden 
which they proposed to themselves to 
carry. ''For which of you," said He, 



176 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

" intending to build a tower, sitteth not 
down first, and couateth the cost, Avhether 
he have sufficient to finish it? Lest, 
haply, after he hath laid the foundation, 
and is not able to finish it, all that behold 
it begin to mock him, saying. This man 
began to build, and was not able to 
finish." 

And now to proceed to a more immedi- 
ate consideration of that passage of Scrip- 
ture which stands at the head of this dis- 
course. The text is, as it were, the chmax 
of three replies, made by our adorable 
Redeemer to as many persons, who, in 
different states of mind, proposed to be- 
come His disciples. " It came to pass," 
writes the EvangeUst, " that as they went 
in the way, a certain man said unto Him, 
Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever 
Thou go est. And Jesus said unto him, 
*' Foxes have holes, and birds of the air 
have nests ; but the Son of Man hath not 
where to lay His head." Here we have 
a person (in the parallel passage of St 
Matthew, it appears that he was a scribe 
or doctor of the laAv) Avho, not having as 
yet given any proof of his sincerity, nev- 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 177 

ertheless. expresses his readiness to ad- 
dress our Lord as *' Master," and to follow 
lliin whilliersoever lie slionld go. Per- 
haps, he imagined tliat Jesus would short- 
ly come to great power and glory, — per- 
haps, as one of the Fathers suggests, lie 
sought to follow the Lord, because of 
His great miracles, for the sake of the 
gain to be derived from them, as Simon 
Magus did, when he would have given 
St. Peter money : and so our Lord shows 
hhn what the cost of following Him would 
be, — that it would lead to no accession of 
worldly fortune, but to a sharing in the 
privations of One Who had neither lodg- 
ing nor home of His own. However, 
this Scribe was not sent away ; but He 
Who knew what was in man, so spake 
as to convict liim of his evil intentions, 
at the same time permitting him, if he 
would, to become a disciple of the cross, 
with the expectation of poverty. 

Pass we now to the next case. " And'* 
Jesus "said unto another, Follow me. 
But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go 
and hMYj my father. Jesus said unto 
him, Let the dead bury their dead : but 



178 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

go thou and preach the kingdom of God." 
The former instance was that of a 
stranger ; the present is that of one who 
akeady followed Jesus, and was His dis- 
ciple. The former called Him Master : 
the other confesses Him as his Lord. 
The disciple does not ask whether he shall 
follow him, for he already believed that 
he ought to do so, but prays to be suffer- 
ed first to bury his father : the other offers 
to follow, not really seeking a master, but 
by means of his master seeking gain for 
himself In the latter case, the spirit ex- 
hibited seems to have been altogether of 
the earth, earthy : in the latter, there was 
only that tinge of earthhness in which 
natural affection still strucrsrles for the mas- 
tery over duty. The disciple, whoever 
he was (perhaps a son of Zebedee^), had 
a parent on his dying-bed,t to whom he 

♦Compare Matt. iv. 21.; viii. 21.; xx. 20. And see 
Blunt (J. J.) on the Veracity of the Evangelists, p. 13. 

t It seems probable that the disciple's father was not actu- 
ally defunct : " nam apud Judaeos mortui sepeliebantur eodem 
die, quo obierant — Acts, v. 7 — 10.; Matt. ix. 23." (Ro- 
senmiiller in Matt, viii.) His %vish seems to have been to 
return home, and stay there till his father's death, and then 
to return to Christ. 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 179 

felt that his first care was due. AMieii 
the days of mourning- for his father should 
be ended, then he was ready to devote 
himself to the service of the Gospel. 
But into that service he had already enter- 
ed ; to that he was pledged : a dispensa- 
tion had been committed unto him, and 
he was now to learn that henceforward 
neither his will nor his actions were in 
his own power. " Jesus said unto him, 
Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou 
and preach the kingdom of God." You, 
that is, when you became a preacher of 
righteousness, were severed by that very 
act from all your earthly fortunes and re- 
lations.: to return to them again would 
be to forfeit your present position. No ; 
do you follow me; and leave the dis- 
charge of that which else would have 
been your natural office, to others. On 
you a higher dut}^ has devolved : and if 
you fail to discharge :t nciv, the opportu- 
nity will pass away for exer. 

The last lesson given on this moment- 
ous subject is the incident recorded in the 
text. " Another also- said, Lord, I will 
follow Thee ; but let me first go bid them 



180 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

farewell, which are at home at my house. 
And Jesus said unto him, No man hav- 
ing put his hand to the plough and 
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
God." 

In this, as in the former instance, the 
person concerned was a disciple, one to 
whom the ministry of the kingdom had 
been committed : like him, he was in 
earnest, and desired in sincerity to obey 
his Master's will. But he had this evi- 
dence of superior faith and zeal to his 
companion, that, whereas the one desired 
to return home and tend his earthly pa- 
rent till attention was needed no longer, 
the other merely desired tore\isit his fami- 
ly Tor a moment, in order to bid them fare- 
well, and then rejoin his Lord and Master. 
But he, too, had miscalculated the amount 
of that Master's requirements. ''Jesus 
said unto him, No man having put his 
hand to the plough, and looking back, is 
fit for the Idngdom of God." As he who 
drives the plough must, from the moment 
in which he begins his labor to that in 
which he ends it, look forward continu- 
ally, and keep the lines of furrow close 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 181 

to each other, side by side, or his work 
will be spoiled ; as to turn away from, or 
to cease to attend to his prescribed task, 
are sure signs that he is not a trusty ser- 
vant, or worthy of his hire ; so, for one 
who has engaged liimseH' to follow Me 
to betray a hankering after what he has 
left behind, is an evidence of his unfit- 
ness for the discharge of the awful duties 
in which he has involved himself 

Such, brethren, was the manner in 
which our Lord and Saviour inculcated 
the necessity of steadiness and resolution 
in those who received his religion. Pri- 
marily, the admonitions were given for 
the benefit of those who belonged to the 
sacred ministry of His Church : and the 
two latter were addressed to persons 
whose objects, under any other circum- 
stances, would have been not only inno- 
cent but praiseworthy. Yet He, Who 
Himself wept at the grave of Lazarus, 
reproves a son who desires to follow his 
father's remains to the tomb. " Let the 
dead bury their dead." He, who, amid 
the agonies of the cross, did not forget to 
commend His own mother to the charge 



182 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

of the beloved disciple, rebukes a follow- 
er who ordy desired to bid farewell to 
those who were nearest and dearest to 
him. " No man having put his hand to 
the plough, and looking back, is fit for 
the kingdom of God.'' 

■ Now, why was this ? Why was such 
severity of tone (for under the apparent 
circumstances of the case there v:as se- 
verity) adopted, with lespect to persons 
desiring to do what, at any rate, seemed 
lawful ? The answer is, that in their case 
the course which they desired to pursue 
was not lawful. They ought already to 
have counted the cost of following Christ, 
and becoming preachers of His Gospel. 
They need not have entered His INIinistry 
unless they had chosen it. There was 
no constraint or compulsion. But h .v- 
ing made their choice, they were bound 
to abide by it, and if it involved difficult 
sacrifices, and painful surrenders, those 
surrenders and sacrifices must neverthe- 
less be made. Their profession was ot 
to be made and then cancelled : their 
allegiance must not be doubtful. AAliat 
might once have been lawful to them 



CHRISTIAN KESOLUTION. 183 

was SO no longer, for tlioir lives were to 
be devoted to a yiiigle object ; and nothing 
was to be thought of a second time which 
came in collision with, or was a hindrance 
to it, even though the thing were in it- 
self praiseworthy. The Gospel was to 
be preached in all the world ; the whole 
race of mankind was to be invited into 
the fold of Christ, and they who were 
the messengers of glad tidings, were bound 
to postpone all other considerations to that 
of devoting themselves, body and soul, to 
the mission whereupon they were sent. 

The warnings, therefore,which we have 
been considering, were addressed first of 
all to the ministers of the Gospel, but 
they are in a great measure applicable to 
us all, seeing that devotion, resolution, 
and stability, are no less essential to each 
private Christian in his vocation and call- 
ing, than to those who, by the Holy 
Ghost, have been made overseers of the 
flock, to feed the Church of God, which 
He hath purchased with His own Blood. 
Let us consider the text, then, with refer- 
ence to ourselves. 

And first, as to what is meant by " put- 
9 



184 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

ting our hand to the plough?" In the 
case of the person to whom our Lord 
spake, — the phrase, no doubt, meant the 
entering on the work of the ministr}^; in 
our own it must be considered as that act 
of our Uves in which we were brought 
into covenant with God, by our renun- 
ciation of the world, the de^vdl and the 
flesh ; by the profession of our faith in 
Christ crucified, and by the vow to keep 
God's holy will and commandments, and 
to walk in the same all the days of our 
life. When Ave were admitted into the 
Cathohc Church by Baptism, we put our 
hands to the plough. AVe made our 
choice, or rather, it was made for us by 
those who had the experience which we 
as yet possessed not, and we have each 
since, in our own persons, ratified and 
confirmed the same, in the face of God, 
and of the congregation, so soon as we 
came to years of discretion. 

Thus we have put our hand to the 
plough. Life and death having been set 
before us, we have made our election be- 
tween them. With the full knowleds^e 
that the way of safety is steep, rugged. 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 1S5 

narrow, we have chosen it instead of the 
broad and easy one, which leadeth to de- 
struction. With the full knowledge that 
our ailections and api)etites within, and 
the world without, would attract us in 
one direction, we have dehberately pre- 
ferred to shape our course m another. 
We have declared that we will give our 
full allegiance both of body and soul to 
Him under whose banners we have en- 
gaged ourselves to fight, and that we will 
be His faithful soldiers and servants unto 
our lives' end. 

And so far, all is well. We did well 
and wisely in putting our hands to the 
plough : but nevertheless, this act, though 
a wise act, and a godly, will only serve 
to increase our condemnation, unless we 
fulfil the duty we have undertaken. "No 
man, having put his hand to the plough, 
and looking hack^ is fit for the kingdom of 
God." 

It is not sufficient that we begin well : 
we must continue in the course we have 
chosen. Unchecked by difficulty, un- 
baffled by disappointment, unwearied by 
exertion, undismayed by danger, we must 



186 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

hold our bold, straightforward course, with 
eyes fixed on one object, with hands en- 
gaged in one task, with hearts steadDy 
and unflinchbigly devoted to the one 
great cause. There are many things 
which will tempt us to linger, many to 
turn aside ; many a voice which we yearn 
after, will seem to upbraid us for pass- 
ing by ; many a scene of gay and daz- 
zling pleasure will lure us to pause and 
join it ; but so sure as we look back we 
are undone, even as that unhappy wo- 
man who perished midway between the 
cities of the plain and the mountain of 
refuge. " Remember Lot's wife." 

In what, then, as regards ourselves, 
may the sin of "looking back" be said 
to consist? 

In few words it is this : it is to mourn 
after those things which we resigned, 
when we engaged ourselves to walk in 
the steps of a crucified Saviour. It is to 
endeavor to unite the service of God and 
Mammon, to try to live a spiritual life, and 
yet to avoid mortifying the body, to seek 
a reward in heaven, and at the same time 
to enjoy tlie world, to aim at reaching the 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 187 

crown of the redeemed, without sharing 
the cross of the Redeemer. It is to hear 
the trutli, and then to excuse ourselves 
from obeyin<^ it : it is to learn the strict- 
ness of the law of God, and then to soft- 
en it down and explain it away, and so 
make it a dead letter. It is to hesitate 
and waver in our profession through fear 
of what may be said about us. It is to 
set our affections nominally on things 
heavenly, and to prize earthly things 
really, though secretly, a great deal more. 
It is to be so occupied and entangled 
with what we see passing around us, as 
practically to forget the tilings which are 
not seen, that invisible kingdom which 
is as true, certain, and close to us, at all 
times, as those things which our eyes can 
see, and our hands can handle. It is, as 
it has been well described, " to have God 
upon our lips, and the world in our hearts." 
And of those who yield themselves to 
this, — the natural temper of all our minds, 
— we are taught that they are "not fit for 
the kingdom of God :" though outward 
members of His visible Church, they are 
not fit for, or worthy of their position. 



188 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 

They are trees with a show of leaves, but 
no fruit, whose end is to be cut down, 
uprooted, and burned. 

My brethren, these are awful consider- 
ations for us all ; for none, it is to be pre- 
sumed, can look back upon their past 
lives without knoAving themselves to have 
been guilty, not only of longing after 
things which they have vowed to re- 
nounce, but of numberless actual back- 
slidings; and this, when, by the grace 
of the Holy Ghost Which dwelleth in 
them, they might, if only they would, 
have been kept from falling. 

All that is past, however, is now irreme- 
diable. We cannot undo what has been 
done. We can only Uve on in humi- 
hation, and penitence, and prayer for for- 
giveness, in the hope that as God sees 
our sincerity and earnestness, He will, for 
our 'Lord Jesus Christ's sake, bring us 
back again gradually, and so far as it is 
possible, to the position we have lost. 

But all depends, under grace, and God's 
mercy, upon our keeping our hand dUi- 
gentlyto the plough, and looking stead- 
fastly forward for the time to come. 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 189 

Let US consider, therefore, that we have 
not only a most arduous work to do, but 
that if we have been hindered, it is be- 
cause we have put liind ranees to tlie do- 
ing of it in our own way. Let us reflect 
that our time is very Hmited, and that of 
our brief day we have already lost much. 
Firm, steadfast, unshrinking resolution 
for the time to come, is, under such cir- 
cumstances, our only chance of safety. 
The Holy Spirit (blessed be His mercy !) 
is Avilling to co-operate with us. Our 
Holy Mother, the Church, is ready with 
her instructions, and ordinances, to fence 
us about with such external aids as may 
render the habits of a life of devotion 
more easy to us, and backslidings less of 
a temptation. The rest remains with 
ourselves. We must endeavor to reahze 
our true state, that, as I have already said, 
in our steadfastness is our only chance 
of safety. AVe must keep our eyes fixed 
on one object — the working out our own 
salvation. From this object nothing must 
divert us : it must absorb us wholly. No 
sacrifices must be counted too costly to 
attain it; no surrenders too great to se- 



190 CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION 

cure it. We must bend all our cares and 
studies this one way; and no allurements 
of the world, no earthly success, no domes- 
tic afflictions, must interfere with it. All 
must be laid aside which comes in compe- 
tition with it ; ever\^thing must be thank- 
fully received (trial, suffering, sorrow, be 
it what it may), which may help us for- 
ward in our pursuit of it. If need be, we 
must leave the dead to bury the dead, 
and be ourselves without a place where- 
in to lay our head. We must be ready 
to give up all that most we cherish and 
love the best, without repining and with- 
out regrets ; for " no man having put his 
hand to the plough, and looking back, is 
fit for the kingdom of God." 

To encourage us in such a course, we 
have all the most gracious promises which 
are written in the AVord of God. And 
on the other hand, to deter us from back- 
shding, we have there the admonitory 
record of the fate of those who in the 
hour of trial have mourned over what 
they had once professed to resign. And 
the lesson which the history of these 
judgments affords, is, that they who hesi- 



CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 191 

tate are undone ; and that whatever their 
previous advancement may have been, 
if they once dvUhcraUhj look back, when 
they have put their hands to the plough, 
their labor proves all in vain. 

" ' Remember Lot's wife ;' for she was 
one," as Bishop Andrewes instructs us, 
who '' fell when she had stood long, and 
who wofully perished at that instant when 
God's special favor was proffered to pre- 
serve her : when, of all other times, she 
had means and cause to stand ; then^ of 
all other times, she fell away." Having 
been brought out of Sodom, and warned 
of the danger that would ensue ; having 
Angels to go before her. Lot to bear her 
company, her daughters to attend her, 
and being now at the entrance of Zoar, 
the haven of her rest, that very time, 
place, and presence, she made choice of 
to perish in. 

And she w^ho died with her face to- 
wards Sodom, was one whose sin it was 
that she " looked back." She did not go 
back, she only looked back: and she 
never looked forward more ! 

My brethren, let us think of these things 



SERMON X 



TRUSTFULNESS. 



Job xiii. 15. 
Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. 

These are the well-known words of that 
Holy Patriarch whose praise is in all the 
Churches, for the patience and trustful- 
ness with which he bore the trying of his 
faith, and submitted to the merciful chas- 
tisements of his heavenly Father. 

It is a great matter with us, my breth- 
ren, ifj when we can weep no longer for 
a bereavement, we begin to endeavor to 
resign ourselves to God's will : if, when 
bodily pain, or worldly anguish, have 
come upon us, and after a wliile are 
lightened, we acknowledge God's hand 
in the matter, and on that ground abstain 
from murmuring, we make as though 
we had done sometliing very exemplary. 
Yet this man, when his servants had 



TRrSTFULNESS. 193 

been slaughtered, his flocks and lierds 
carried oil; his children all slain in a mo- 
ment by the fall of their house, and him- 
self " smitten with sore boils, from the 
sole of his foot unto his crown," gave 
way to no hasty repining, nor expressions 
of impatience ; he " neither shmed nor 
charged God foolishly ;" but declared, as 
you have heard in the text, " Though He 
slay me, yet will I trust in Ilim/' 

Therefore it was, that when he had 
been tried, "the Lord turned the captivity 
of Job," and '' blessed the latter end of 
Job more than his beginning ;" therefore 
it was that the Holy Ghost, speaking by 
the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, classes 
him with Noah and Daniel, as among 
the most emment of those whose right- 
eousness might, under certain circum- 
stances, have not only dehvered their own 
souls, but been a plea for mercy in behalf 
of their native country, when it had tres- 
passed grievously : therefore it was, that 
St. James holds liim up for our imitation, 
as an " example of suffering affliction, 
and of patience." 

Job endured, as seeing Him that is in- 



194 TRUSTFULNESS. 

visible ; he had that faith which has real- 
ized to itself the conviction that some- 
how or other all things are working to- 
gether for good to them that love God, 
and which calmly submits itself without 
anxiety to whatever God sees fit to lay 
upon it. This Cliristian grace of trust- 
fulness, is, in a great degree, the same as 
faith; only faith comprehends trustful- 
ness ; it is the larger term of the two ; 
faith being that process of the mind by 
which it assents to everything which God 
has made known ; whereas trustfulness 
seems rather limited to those circum- 
stances in wliich behef is connected with 
endurance: thus, it was Faith which 
taught Abraham to beheve that Sarah 
should conceive and bear a son, though 
he was himself an hundred years old, 
and it had ceased to be with her after the 
manner of women ; and it was Trust- 
fulness which enabled him to stretch forth 
his hand, and take the knife to slay his 
son, though by the very act it seemed as 
though he would himself make the per- 
formance of God's promise impossible, 
namely, that his seed should be as the 



TRUSTFULNESS. 196 

stars of heaven. It Avas Faith Avliich in- 
eiteJ Job to ofler buriit-oireriiigs accord- 
ing to the luiniber of his cliikiren ; it was 
Tnistjulness Avhich, in the mid.st of be- 
reavement, worldly loss, and bodily suf- 
fering, drew from his lips the glorious 
acknowledgment, "Though He slay me, 
yet will I trust in Him." 

Now let us, in the ensuing discourse, 
say something upon Christian Trustful- 
ness. 

None of us can have lived any length 
of time in the world without having, as 
part of our appointed trial, been visited 
with pain and sickness, with the loss of 
friends, and with more or less of temporal 
misfortune. How these chastisements 
have been borne by us, has depended 
upon how far we have taught ourselves 
to look upon them as a precious legacy 
from Christ our Saviour, as a portion of 
His Cross, as a token of His love, and of 
His desire that we should be united with 
Him in the fellowship of sufferings. It 
is to be feared that Ihere are very few of 
us but have given way in some measure 
to impatience and repinings ; it is to be 



196 TRUSTFULNESS. 

hoped that none of us have so used our 
chastisements as to turn into curses what 
were sent to be blessings, and that our 
hearts have not been hardened instead of 
softened by the visitations of God. I will 
assume that we have received our trials in 
a Christian spirit, at least so far as this, 
that we have not endeavored, while under 
their pressure, to resist and rebel against 
God. And tliis being the case, I will ask 
you whether, now that the first pangs and 
bitterness of those trials are over, you can- 
not see for yourselves that they were sent 
for a wise and merciful purpose ? Can 
you not trace how, and in what respect, 
it has been srood for vou to be in trouble 
and disappointed ? How well it has been 
for their survivors as well as for them- 
selves, that ''the righteous have been 
taken away from the e^il to come ?" 
How disease and pain have worked to- 
gether for your good ? Looking back 
ten, twenty, thirty years, upon what at 
the time, you considered the great mis- 
fortunes of your life, can you not now see 
the gracious designs with which they 
were sent ? Will you not own that what 



TRUSTFULNESS. 197 

Providence chose for you was far better 
than what you would have chosen for 
yourselves ? Will you not acknowledge 
that, all things considered, you would not 
now wish that things should have been 
ditferent ^. And if this be the case (as I 
suppose will be generally allowed), have 
we not at once a most powerful argu- 
ment in favor of trustfulness, and a most 
satisfactory evidence that "in quietness 
and in conhdence" will be our strength? 
'' Thou wilt keep him," saith the prophet, 
'' in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
on Thee : because he trusteth in Thee. 
Tmst ye in the Lord for ever : for in the 
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." 

In proportion as we have the Spirit of 
Christ (and if we have not the Spirit of 
Christ we are none of His), will be our 
desire to be made like unto Him in all 
things ; and tliis resemblance can never 
be attained without a following of Him 
in the path of suffering, and a submission 
and trustfulness like His as we pass along 
it. He would, had it been possible, have 
escaped the sharp and bitter agony of the 
Cross : but when that could not be, He 



193 TRUSTFULNESS. 

calmly reposed Himself in trustful reli- 
ance on His Father. " Father, if Thou 
be wiUing, remove this cup from Me, 
nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be 
done." And it is upon this ground that 
both the Bible and the Church exhort us 
to a performance of the duty I am incul- 
cating upon you. " Let us," \mtes St. 
Paul to the Hebrews, " run with patience 
the race that is set before us, looking unto 
Jesus the Author and Finisher of our 
faith ; Who, for the joy that was set be- 
fore Him, endured the cross, despising 
the shame." And so our Church, when, 
in her office for the Visitation of the Sick, 
she would speak her word of consolation 
to those whose bodies are racked with 
disease and bodily pain, reminds them 
that " there should be no greater comfort 
to Christian persons, than to be made 
like unto Christ, by suffering patiently 
adversities, troubles, and sicknesses. For 
He Himself went not up to joy, but first 
He suffered pain ; He entered not into 
His glory before He was crucified. So 
truly our way to eternal joy is to sutler 
here with Christ ; and our door to enter 



TRUSTFULNESS. 109 

into eternal life is «jladly to (li(^ whh 
Christ : that wo may rise as^ain (ioia 
death, and dwell ^\\\\l Ilini in cNcrJast- 
iii*^ life." 

Now, 1 Avonld fain hope, brethren, as 
I said before, that you are all so lar in 
earnest in your Christian profession as 
this, that, at least, you aeknowledge God's 
hand in all the trials that betall you ; that 
you receive them as His chastenings 
AMio correcteth in love ; and that you 
endeavor to meet them in the spirit of 
trustfulness, — a spirit more or less strong 
in proportion to your individual growth 
in holiness, — but still, of such a character 
in each of you, that it enables you to 
check at once all disposition to open un- 
thankfulness and murmuring. 

And so far it is well ; but at this point 
we are exposed to a temptation w^iich it 
is of the highest importance to us to re- 
sist; and which, if we yield to it, will effect- 
ually hinder our progress in the course of 
discipline, by which our wills are being 
brought into submission to God's. 

The danger to which I allude, is that 
of endeavoring, by any movement of im- 



200 TRUSTFULNESS. 

patience, to lighten the burden which our 
Heavenly Father has laid on us ; — of tak- 
ing matters, as it were, into our own 
hands, and so thwarting, or making of 
none effect, the merciful designs of Pro- 
vidence towards us. Our duty is to lie 
still under the rod, and to be silent when 
we are smitten. But then we must take 
care that our passiveness and silence are 
the result of Christian principles. There 
is a silence which arises from suUenness, 
and a passiveness which comes from apa- 
thy or despair, and which is near akin to 
that fearful frame of mind, in which a 
man has only to obey the advice of Job's 
wife to her husband, — namely, to curse 
God and die. 

Trials are sent us, not for the purpose 
of teaching us to harden ourselves into 
insensibilit}^, as, ere now, has been the 
vain endeavor of some who knew not 
God : they are sent us in order that when 
we feel their acuteness, we may raise our 
thoughts to Him AVho alone can hghten 
them, and bless them to us. They are 
sent us, not to provoke us to grow sullen 
under them, but rather as e\'idences that 



TRUSTFULNESS. 201 

we are the objects of God's tender and 
fatherly care, and consequently, as incite- 
inents to thankfulness. They are sent 
us, not to drive us to despair, but to help 
us in acquiring that healthful, elastic tone 
of mind in which cheerful trustfulness 
has its perfect work ; in which, let what 
will come upon us, and how hard soever 
it may be, at tlie moment, to endure, we 
have still the firm, abiding conviction, 
^vhich nothing can shake, that God is do- 
ing what is best for us, and that if we 
will only submit ourselves unreservedly 
to Him, He will, in His own good time, 
give us '' beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
for mourning, and the garment of praise 
for the spirit of heaviness." 

The feeling, therefore, which ought to 
predominate in our minds, under all the 
chastening visitations to which we are 
exposed, should be this, that it is sin to 
doubt the gracious purposes of God 
towards us, or to receive them in any 
other than a thankful spirit. We must re- 
member God's promises to His Church, 
and consider that what was promised to 
the body, was promised to the members 



202 TRUSTFULNESS. 

like^Yise ; '• Thus saith the Lord that cre- 
ated thee, O Jacob, and He that formed 
thee, O Israel, Fear not : for I have re- 
deemed thee, I have called thee by thy 
name ; thou art Mine. AVhen thou pass- 
est through the waters I ^\ill be with thee ; 
and through the rivers they shall not over- 
flow thee : when thou walkest through 
the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neith- 
er shall the flame kindle upon thee. For 
I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of 
Israel, thy Saviour." And again, *'' I, even 
I. am He that comforteth you: who art 
thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a 
man that shall die, and of the son of man 
which shall be made as grass : and for- 
gettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath 
stretched forth the heavens, and laid the 
foundations of the earth ?'' 

Lender such circumstances, then, and 
WT.th such convictions, we shall be in no 
hurry to ease our shoulders from the bur- 
den which God hath laid upon them ; we 
shall not tr\' to shift it off. nor \^Tithe un- 
der it. We shall not be impatient and ' 
restless, striding how we may release our- 
selves from that which pains us. "We 



TRUSTFULNESS. 203 

shall bear the rod, and Him AVho hath 
appointed it, and hit up our hearts in the 
trustful spirit of Job, " Though lie slay 
me, yet will I trust in Him." 

It is hard to do this ; — (in our own 
strength, I am sure I need not remind 
you, it is impossible ;) — it is hard to re- 
joice in tribulation ; to yield " most hum- 
ble and hearty thanks" when some object 
who has been the light of our eyes, is re- 
moved. " from the miseries of this sinful 
world ;" but He Who sends our trials, 
sends them one by one, as we are able 
to bear them, gradually teaching us by 
our own experience that it is good for 
us to be afflicted. 

" Before I was in trouble I went wrong, 
but now have I kept Thy law." So that 
by degrees we are led onward from 
strength to strength, and our trustfulness 
increases (if so be our hearts are right 
with God), even with the growing inten- 
sity of our trials. 

And how mercifully we are dealt with, 
we shall be the more ready to acknow- 
ledge, the more we reflect upon the man' 
ner of God's visitations towards us. Could 



204 TRUSTFULNESS. 

our eyes pierce into the future ; could we 
look into each successive grave that is 
opened beside us,till we have reached our 
own ; could we at once, and at one view, 
reckon up the amount of pain and sick- 
ness, of misfortune and temporal Joss, of 
disappointment and blighted prospects, 
which is allotted to each in his earthly 
career ; could we apprehend, at the out- 
set, all that is involved in a daily cross, 
and a following of Him Who died there- 
on, — ^the path, how arduous, how rugged, 
how full of peril ; how, as each ascent is 
gained, a higher, and a higher peak still 
opens upon us, which must be surmount- 
ed ere the summit can be reached ; could 
we, at our first profession, know all which 
that profession requires of us, our spirits 
would be broken, our resolution would 
fail, and we should shrink, perhaps, alto- 
gether from the contest. But our merci- 
ful Father, in His love and tender com- 
passion, leads us on by httle and httle, 
according to our strength ; showing us 
no more of the way than we can accom- 
plish without exhaustion ; concealing the 
coming, till we have escaped tlie present 



TRUSTFULNESS. 20o 

danger, and thus gradually teaching us 
to tmst Ilim, to wish for no more light 
than He vouchsafes us, and to be con- 
tent to follow step by step in the direction 
where He calls us, even as faithful Abra- 
ham, " when he was called to go out into 
a place which he should after receive for 
an inheritance, obeyed and went out, 7iot 
knowing ichitJier he iccnty 

Surely, the. experience we have all had, 
during the course of our earthly pilgrim- 
age, is an all-sufficient argument for trust- 
fulness ! Surely the words of the Son of 
Sirach must come home to every heart ! 
" My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, 
prepare thy soul for temptation. Set thy 
heart aright and constantly endure, and 
make not haste in time of trouble. Cleave 
unto Him, and depart not away, that thou 

mayest be increased at thy last end 

Believe in Him, and He will help thee ; 
order thy way aright, and trust in Him. 
Ye that fear the Lord, wait for His mercy, 
and go not aside lest ye fall. Ye that 
fear the Lord, believe Him, and your re- 
ward shall not fail. Ye that fear the 
Lord, hope for good, and for everlasting 



206 TRUSTFULNESS. 

joy and mercy. Look at the generations 
of old and see : did ever any trust in the 
Lord, and was confounded ? Or did any 
abide in His fear, and was forsaken? Or 
whom did He ever despise, that called 
upon Him?" 

" Like as a father pitieth his own child- 
ren, even so is the Lord merciful unto 
them that fear Him. For He knoweth 
whereof we are made, He.remembereth 
that we are but dust." As to a father, 
therefore, we should look u]) to Him, with 
the docile, trustful temper of little child- 
ren, who have no fears so long as they 
can cling to a parent's bosom, who have 
no thought but that their parents knoic 
what is best for them, and will do what is 
best by them ; who obey simply, and sub- 
mit themselves dutifully, and trust them- 
selves affectionately and thankfully; smil- 
ing even through their tears, as a parent's 
eye gleams on them, and loving not the 
less while yielding to fatherly correction. 

Li all time of our tribulation, in all time 
of our wealth, under the pressure of ad- 
versity, or in the extremity of pain and 
sorrow, the duty is still the same, '' Though 



TRUSTFULNESS. 207 

He slay me, yet will I trust in Him :" and 
; lie reward of trustfiihiess is still the same, 
that "in the inidst of the sorrows which 
we have in our hearts, His comforts will 
refresh our souls," — He will be ''the 
strength of them that put their trust in 
Him." 

But it is not in personal and domestic 
trials only that this spirit of trustfulness 
will be our safeguard and support. In 
all those perplexities which arise from 
our own pos;tion in the Church, and the 
Cliurch's position in the world, and which 
would otherwise bewilder us, our trustful- 
ness will come to our refuge. If our own 
way seems more full of difficulties than 
usual, we have only to trust God, and 
obey Him so far as we hnow His will, and 
in the end our way will be made clear to 
us. If clouds seem gathering round His 
Church, and love is waxing cold, and 
truth faiUng, and the faithful are minish- 
ed from among the children of men, 
trustfulness is still the remedy for our 
perplexity ; for that assures us that some- 
how or other God will protect His own, 
and maintain His own cause. "The 

10 



208 TRUSTFULNESS. 

Lord is King, be the people never so im- 
patient: He sitteth between the cheru- 
bims, be the earth never so unquiet." 

And beUeve me, brethren, there never 
was greater need of a trustful spirit 
among Churchmen, than at the present 
time. Without are fightings, within are 
fears : a spirit of controversy, fierce and 
cruel, implacable and unmerciful ; holy 
men going to extremes on either side ; 
extremes on either side fraught with dan- 
ger ; and timidit}^, cowardice, and a tem- 
porizing, worldly temper, attributed to 
those who would keep the middle path. 
So it has been in times past ; so I sup- 
pose it will continue to be till this most 
miserable world shall pass away. But 
what is the Christian's duty under such 
circumstances ? Is it not to keep close 
to the Catholic Faith, maintaining that 
whole and undefiled, hankering after no- 
thing more, and satisfied with nothing 
less? And what is the Churchman's 
duty as respects the Church ? Is it not 
to endeavor to carry out her system fully 
and unreservedly in his own person ? I 
suppose there are some tilings which we 



I 



TRUSTFULNESS. 209 

all ^vish the Church did more insist on. 
We all wish the Church to be what she 
is, '^and as much better as God shall 
please to make her." Certainly, one ccm- 
not speak of present practice and want 
of discipline, without desiring something 
beyond what is. But what then ? Will 
this make the Churchman discontented 
witli his condition, half a traitor, and al- 
together unthankful for his actual privi- 
leges and blessings? No. He knows 
that he may desire* lawfully, and indeed 
practise lawfully, more than the Church 
insists on : but he also knows that he may 
neither desire nor prastice more than she 
allows. And upon this very simple rule he 
acts ; and thus his difficulties, and doubts, 
and scruples, are removed ; and he finds 
by the sure test of experience, that if we 
honestly try to do God's will. He will 
make clear the path in which we ought 
to go, and support us as we walk along it. 
If only we can bring ourselves to a 
sincere and steadfast resolution, like that 
of Job, ^' Though He slay me, yet will I 
trust in Him," we are thoroughly prepar- 
ed for the worst that can befal us. Be 



210 TRUSTFULNESS. 

the persecution what it may, the perse- 
cutor can but slay the body. Be the 
tyranny what it may, it will soon be 
everpast, and thereafter cometh rest and 
security. 

A time of sharp and bitter trial may be 
at hand. At least, all things seem tend- 
ing that way ; at least, many of us, it is 
to be feared, have abused their day of 
grace, and so have deserved to be sifted 
like wheat, to be winnowed with the fan 
of vengeance. But come when it may, 
the faithful follower of Christ crucified 
has tliis pre-eminent consolation, that the 
sharper the humihation, suffering, and 
persecution, the nearer will he be brought 
into the fellowship of Him AMio was de- 
spised, and rejected, and mocked, and 
spit upon, and scourged, and crucified. 
And the trustful servant of God has this 
assurance, that he who trusts in God 
shall ''neverhe confounded,*' and that that 
Catholic Church, of which he is a mem- 
ber, is guided and guarded by the Most 
High : that " God is in the midst of her, 
therefore shall she not be removed ;"' that 
" the Lord will help her, and that right 



TRUSTFULNESS. 211 

early:'' that though the heathen make 
much ado, and the kingdoms are moved, 
God hath but to show His voice, and the 
earth shall melt away : and finally, that 
in every conflict tliat awaits her, "the 
Lord of Hosts is with us, and the God of 
Jacob is our Refuge !" 



SERMON XL 



ON SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

Romans viii. 6. 

To be carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritually 
minded is life and peace. 

The term " to be minded," here used, has 
reference, in the original Greek, to the 
affection wliich a person sets on any giv- 
en object, and the great pains which he 
uses in obtaining it. Thus, in the third 
chapter of the epistle to the Colos- 
sians, where the same expression occurs, 
our translation renders it, " Set your affec- 
tion on things above." It is, in fact, an 
exact equivalent to the common phrase 
among ourselves of setting one's heart 
upon a thing. 

The mindmg of the flesh, therefore, or 
" the lust of the flesh," which, as we are 
taught in the ninth ai'ticle of our Church, 



SriRITUAL-MIiNDEDNESS. 213 

"some do expound the wisdom, some 
sensuality, some the affection, some the 
desire of tlie flesh, is the employing our 
whole thou^^ht, and pains, and time, in 
gratifying and in providing for the gratifi- 
cation of mere bodily appetites : wliile, 
on the other hand, the being spiritually 
minded, or the minding of the soul, is an 
earnest seeking after the things of the 
unseen world, a determined renunciation 
of everything which may interfere with 
the soul's communion with God, and a 
steadfast walking by faith and not by sight. 

The result of adopting this latter course, 
St. Paul informs us, will be life and peace, 
— peace, that is, even amid the trials and 
sorrows of this lower world, and life eter- 
nal in duration and happiness in the hea- 
vens. But to be carnally minded, — to 
mind the body to the neglect of the soul, 
is death, can only issue in everlasting 
misery and perdition. 

The doctrine here set before us is re- 
peated so continually in Holy Scripture, 
and lies so entirely at the foundation of 
Christian morals, that it will, no doubt, 
seem to many an exhausted subject, 



214 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

and one about which nothing more 
remains to be said. And this would be 
true, if it followed as a n.atter of course 
that men acted upon their convictions, and 
thought much about truths with which 
they are familiar. Unhappily, however, 
the reverse of this is the case. We admit 
the evil and exceeding danger of a carnal 
mind, but we remain carnal-minded. AVe 
allow that to be spiritually-minded is life 
and peace, but we go on from day to day as 
if life and peace were not worth having. 
We are exhorted to set our affections on 
things above, not on things of the eartb, 
and to lay up for ourselves treasures in 
heaven, and we are reminded that our 
conversation and citizenship are in hea- 
ven. . Of these things we acknowledge 
the truth, but it is to be feared that many 
go no further, or at most resolve within 
themselves that they will become spiritu- 
al-minded, when this world and its con- 
cerns are fading from their view, and the 
next is opening upon them. We all, per- 
haps, more or less, allow ourselves to think 
of spiritual-mindedness as a qualit}- to be 
attained at, the end of life, rather than as 



8PIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 215 

one which is an indispensable accom- 
paniment of its whole course. It is, in- 
deed, true tliat the higher a person ad- 
vances in practical hohness, — the nearer 
lie oroes on to perfection, the more spiritu- 
al-minded will he become, so that the dy- 
ing saint, who has been serving God dili- 
gently through a long career, may at last 
be only a little lower than the angels; his 
spiritual-mindedness may, and will at the 
close of his pilgrimage, be much more 
developed than it was at first, but it is 
worse than vain to suppose on that ac- 
count, that spiritual-mindedness Avill grow 
up, men know not how, out of the dregs 
of carnal-mindedness ; that if they have 
served the world in their youth, and giv- 
en their affections to it, those affections 
will, as a matter of course, fix themselves 
on God as life advances. 

The fact is, that people bUnd their eyes 
to their real condition. They indulge in 
the very common fallacy of keeping obli- 
gations to which they are already pledged 
out of sight : just as, because it happens 
to be the fashion, some persons, at the 
present time, take upon themselves vows 

10* 



216 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

of temperance, apparently never reflect- 
ing that they have already made such a 
vow when they were admitted into cove- 
nant with God at Baptism ; or, just as is 
said to be the case among the Roman 
CathoUcs, when monks and nuns, on 
making their profession, engage them- 
selves to die to the world, and are laid 
upon a bier, and the office for the dead 
celebrated over them, as though their 
dying to the world was some new thing, 
and as if in Baptism they were not 
already dead, — buried with Christ and 
raised with Him, to new hopes and a new 
life. 

And this same fallacy, I say, frequently 
appears in the case of those who profess 
to be striving after spiritual-mindedness. 
It does not seem to occur to them that 
the very adoption of Christianity has 
pledged them, at the outset, to that which 
they are disposed to look upon as one of 
the latest and highest acquirements of the 
Christian. Yet if any one will turn to 
that epistle from whence my text is taken, 
or indeed to any of the Apostohc writings, 
he will find that the inspired writers as- 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 217 

same it as a matter of course that they 
who have been bai)tized are hving up to 
their profession. They will hardly allow 
themselves to imagine that those for 
whom God had done such great things,— 
forgiving them their sins, making them 
His own children by adoption, and trans- 
lating them into the kingdom of his dear 
Son, would be so ungrateful, not to say- 
so insane, as to make hght of their privi- 
leges, and imagine they might go on af- 
ter Baptism, as they had done while still 
heathens. The Apostles addressed those 
to whom they wrote as '' Saints," as '• sanc- 
tified in Christ Jesus," as '-'elect," as "wash- 
ed, and sanctified, and justified ;" as if, in 
short, they were serving God both in body 
and soul, and as if they had altogether re- 
nounced the de\il the world, and the flesh, 
in consequence of their adoption in God. 
And it is upon this ground that the 
Apostles exhort then: converts to continu- 
ed exertion. " Ye were sometimes dark- 
ness, but now are ye light in the Lord : 
walk as children of hght." " Remember 

that ye in time past were without 

Christ, being ahens from the common- 



218 SPIRITUAL-MI NDEDNESS. 

wealth of Israel, and strangers from the 
covenant of promise, having no hope, 
and without God in the world. But now 
in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were 
far off are made nigh by the blood of 

Christ I, therefore. .... beseech you 

that ye walk worthy of the vocation 
wherewith ye are called." "Ye are a 
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an 
holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye 
should show forth the praises of Him 
Who hath called you out of darkness 
into His marvellous light : which in time 
past were not a people, but are now the 
people of God : which had not obtained 
mercy, but now have obtained mercy.'' 
" We ourselves were sometimes fooUsh, 
disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
and pleasures, living in maUce and envy, 
hateful and hating one another. But af- 
ter that the kindness and love of God 
our Saviour toward man appeared, not 
by works of righteousness which we have 
done, but according to His mercy He 
saved us, by the washing of regenera- 
tion and renewing of the Hely Ghost; 
Which He shed on us abundantly through 



SPIRITUAL-MIXDEDNESS. 1219 

Jcsiis Christ our Saviour ; that hcin^^ jnsti- 
iied by His (^race, we should be made 
heirs according to the hope of eternal 
hfe. This is a faithtiil saying, and these 
things I will that thou aftirni constantly, 
that they which have believed in God 
niii^lit be careful to maintain good works." 

Now it is quite evident from all these 
passages (and many others might be ad- 
duced), first, that the carnal mind is death ; 
and secondly, that it was not a thing to 
be supposed by the Apostles, that they 
Avho by the washing of regeneration, and 
renewing of the Holy Ghost, had been 
put in a state of salvation, would be other 
than spiritually minded. 

But how was so great a change to be 
effected in the souls of believers ? Does 
Baptism act hke a charm? Will the 
mere sprinkling of water, accompanied 
by the words of the Priest, change the 
whole inward disposition, so that the 
works of the flesh shall be instantane- 
ously superseded by the fruits of the spi- 
rit; and uncleanness, idolatry, env}^ings, 
murders, drunkenness and such like, give 
place at once to "love, joy, peace, long-suf- 



220 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

fering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance ? 

Assuredly not. St. Paul says expressly 
that ^' the carnal mind is enmity against 
God, for it is not subject to the law of 
God, nor indeed can be ;" and he tells the 
Galatians that " the flesh lusteth against 
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh ; 
and these are contrary the one to the 
other, so that ye cannot do the things 
that ye would." St. Peter likewise ad- 
monishes the Christians to whom he 
writes "to abstain from fleshly lusts, wliich 
war against the soul;" and St. James 
says, " every man is tempted when he is 
drawn away of his own lust, and en- 
ticed." Thus it is evident, to use the 
language of our Articles, that the infec- 
tion of our nature doth remain in them 
that are regenerate, whereby the lust of 
the flesh, or the carnal mind, is not sub- 
ject to the law of God. Baptism, there- 
fore, does not in itself make us spiritually 
minded, but only pledges us to become 
so, puts us in the way of becoming so, 
and helps us to become so. Our ori- 
ginal incapacities are removed thereby, 



SPIRITUAE-MINDEDNE6S. 221 

and we have the promise of such ^acc 
as may enable us to battle effectually 
with our indwellin<i^ corruption. Corrup- 
tion dwells in us in spite of Baptism : 
but by Baptism another tenant is admit- 
ted into our hearts ; there He makes His 
Temple, and thence, if we do not resist 
Him, He will expel the ori<^inal occu- 
pant. " When a strong man armed keep- 
eth his palace, liis goods are in peace : 
but when a stronger than he shall come 
upon him and overcome him, he taketh 
from him all his armor wherein he trust- 
ed, and divideth liis spoils." 

It appears then, on the whole, that 
though, as baptized Christians, we en- 
gage ourselves to cease from " the mind- 
ing of the flesh," and to mind the things 
of the spirit, the flesh is still strong with- 
in us to seduce, and the difliculties of 
becoming spiritual-minded are so great, 
that in our own strength we cannot attain 
unto it : yet that, nevertheless, to be car- 
nally minded is death, but to be spiritu- 
ally minded is Ufe and peace. It is at 
least worth while, therefore, to aim at a 
spiritual mind. 



222 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

How comes it, then, that so many 
Christians appear to make no exertions 
to become spiritually minded, or, at any 
rate, act as though they considered it 
rather a quality to be sought after when 
many other Christian graces were attain- 
ed, than one which should pervade and 
characterize their whole existence ? 

I fear the answer to this question is to 
be found in the indifference with which 
persons are apt to look on their baptis- 
mal vows. Because God in His mercy 
does not refuse His grace and forgiveness 
to those who have fallen into wilful sin 
after Baptism, therefore men have come 
to look on it as a matter of comparative 
indifference whether they break their bap- 
tismal engagements or not. They de- 
spair of keeping them unbroken to their 
lives' end, and therefore make little exer- 
tion to keep them at all, forgetting all the 
while that they who sin in defiance of 
light, and warnings, and promises made 
and ratified, can hardly expect as ready 
a forgiveness as those who sinned before 
they were brought under the law. Surely 
the Judge of all the earth will do right, 



ax iiU . JAL-xMIXDEDNESS. 223 

and draw a broad line of distinction be- 
tween sins of* ignorance, and sins ol' pre- 
sumption. Would tliat men would think 
more of this, and while they gratel'ully 
acknowledge that the Blood of Christ 
cleanseth liom all sin, be less ready to 
i'ollow the ways of the nniltitude, and to 
think Ughtlij of sin after Baptism ! 

And now let us consider wherein spi- 
ritual-mindedness consists, and what aids 
we all have towards attain in^^ it. 

I would describe spiritual-mindedness, 
then, as consisting in a following of God's 
will instead of our own, as a subjection 
of the body to the spirit, a dehberate seek- 
ing after things eternal instead of things 
temporal, and this under all the circum- 
stances of our daily life. He who is spi- 
ritual-minded will be a man of prayer, 
for prayer alone can fix his thoughts on 
the world unseen. He will Hve in habits 
of self-denial, for not otherwise will he 
gain the mastery over those fleshly lusts 
and appetites which war against the soul. 
He will cultivate a temper of awe and 
reverence for holy things, as knowing 
tiiat irreverence is the first step to unbe- 



224 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

lief. He will be diligent in self-exami- 
nation, that so earthly things may gain 
no unsuspected hold over his affections. 
He will be very careful whom he selects 
for his companions and familiar friends, 
lest evil communications, or intercourse 
with worldly-minded persons, should have 
the effect of entangling him with the cares 
and pleasures of life, or lowering that 
standard of perfection at which he is aim- 
ing. He will never be anxious to speak 
much openly on subjects connected with 
religion, as knowing the danger to hiin- 
self lest his professions should outrun liis 
performances; and the danger to others, 
lest, from his example, they should get 
into a careless way of speaking of holy 
things. His hght will shine before men, 
because they who watch him will see 
that he is dihgently discharging the du- 
ties of that state of life to which it has 
pleased God to call him ; but there will 
be no ostentation or display : rather he 
will live in his own thoughts, and be so 
cautious of exposing them to that world 
which he has renounced, that to casual 
observers there will seem nothing peculiar 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 225 

about him. The great mass of Christians, 
it is to be feared, owe what they have of 
rehgion to accident rather than to any 
other cause. Tliey do certain things be- 
cause it is the way of the world to do 
them ; they abstain from others because 
the habits of societ}'' seem to require it. 
Convenience, expedience, personal grati- 
fication, an unwilUngness to be singular, 
— these are the motives which apparently 
influence them. The Gospel has no hold 
upon them personally. If they are the 
better for it, they are only so mediately ; 
what they do is done in imitation of 
others, and out of mere habit. But the 
spiritual-minded man acts upon pnnciple. 
God's law is the rule of his daily life, and 
that by which he tests all things. His 
actions are done as in God's presence ; 
when he speaks he remembers that an- 
gels are hstening. He never allows him- 
self to think that anything which he does 
is trivial or of no consequence. There is 
a right and a wrong way of doing every- 
thing. Everything may be done either 
to the honor or the dishonor of God. Ac- 
cordingly, he tries to keep this thought 



226 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 

before him, not only when matters of im- 
portance are to be decided, but amid the 
little details of every-day life. He en- 
deavors to carry out in his practice the 
duty which the Catechism has taught 
him, that he should love God with all his 
heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, 
that he should worship Him, and give 
Him thanks, and put his whole trust in 
Him, should call upon Him, should hon- 
or His holy name, and His word, and 
serve Him truly, all the days of his life. 
To the spiritual-minded man, God will 
be everything, and the world nothing. 
In the active occupations of life, he will, 
with the Psalmist, "set God always be- 
fore him," that so he may be preserved 
from being ensnared by the world. And 
when his thoughts are withdrawn from 
his necessary engagements they will at 
once fall upon reUgion, as upon the thing 
on which they are centered. 

And now, brethren, as to the aids 
which we all have towards attaining such 
a disposition of mind as we are assured 
by the Word of God is " life and peace," 
but which we know, by our own experi- 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 227 

ence (as many of lis are in earnest) is 
most dirticalt to be attained. 

The iirst and chietest aid is that of 
God the Holy Ghost, AMio was given us 
in our Baptism, and whose olhce it is to 
enhghten us, to bring all things to our 
remembrance, and to strengthen us to 
do God's will and keep our vows. He 
dwelleth in us. He is ever ready to as- 
sist us. He puts into our minds good 
desires, and gives us grace to bring ihem 
to good effect. He cleanses, and purifies 
the heart. He converts us where we 
need a change : He renews us where 
anything has been decayed by the fraud 
and malice of the devil, or by our own 
carnal will and frailness. How dih- 
gently, therefore, should we hsten for 
His voice, how carefully should we at- 
tend to it when heard ! how watchful 
should we be lest by thought, or word, or 
action, we should grieve Him, or quench 
the fire which he has kindled within us ! 
How earnestly should we pray Him to 
abide in us continually, to give us tender 
consciences, to give us hearts of flesh, 
and remove our hearts of stone, to enable 



228 SPIRITUAL-MINDEDXESS. 

US to see Him Who is invisible, and to 
live for things eternal. 

The next great aid which has been 
provided for those who are aiming at 
spiritual-mindedness, is to be found in 
the privileges which the Church offers 
us. The object of her whole system is 
to take us out of the world, even while 
we are living in it. Her ordinances, so 
spiritual in their nature, so powerfully- 
calculated to help us to reahze things 
unseen, and so continually recurring, are, 
if only used rightly (that is, without form- 
alism or hypocrisy), the things of all others 
to root out the carnal mind, and give us 
the mind of Christ. As she sees Cluist 
in all things, so will she lead us to do the 
same. With her daily round of prayer 
and praise she would prepare us, while 
still on earth, for the never-ending services 
of heaven, and the unceasing adoration 
of her Lord. With her Fasts she will 
teach us to die with Him to things tem- 
poral ; with her Feasts she will bid us 
lift up our hearts to that kingdom where 
all is " life and peace." With her Holy 
Sacraments she gives us blessings so 



SPIRITUAL-MINDEDNESS. 229 

awful, that the very thought of them 
ought to urge us to strive after the grace 
of spiritual-iniiidedness, since even to 
speak of them without it were a heinous 
transgression. 

Otlier aids to tliis most necessary grace 
there are, on which, after what I have 
already said, I need not dwell particularly. 
Prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, medita- 
tion, are among the chief of them. Others 
will suggest themselves to your thoughts. 
And so with one observation I will con- 
clude ; " To be carnally-minded is death, 
to be spiritually-minded is hfe and peace." 
Here, then, hfe and death are set before 
you. And you have, each of you, in the 
face of God and the congregation; chosen 
life. On the strength of that choice you 
were made members of Christ, children 
of God, and heirs of heaven. Are you 
w^alking worthy of your vocation ? If 
you are carnal-minded, you are not. 
Your only chance of salvation is in ac- 
quiring the grace of spiritual-mindedness. 
But the time is short. See then that you 
set about your duty to-day. To-morrow 
it may be too late. 



230 SPIRITUAL-MLVDEDNESS. 

If, on the other hand, you have the 
honest testimony of conscience within, 
that yon liave made some progress to- 
wards the attainment of the spiritual 
mind, you may take to yourselves the 
comfortable assurance that you are in the 
way of life and peacc,^ you are gradu- 
ally passing from death unto life, from 
that living death which is man's condi- 
tion in this world, to the true life of the 
soul ; you are beginning to taste of that 

* S. Augustin, in Joann. v. 24. " In hac vita transitur a 
morte ad vitam ; in hac vita quas nondura est vita, hinc tran- 
situr a morte ad vitam. Quis est ilJe transitus? i^ui audit 
verba mea, dixit, et credit ei qui tnisit me. Servans ista 
credis, et transis 

*• Audi Apostolum dicentem ad Timotheum, Prcecipe divi- 
tibus hujus soeculi, non superbe sapere, neque sperare in 
incerto divitiarum, sed in Deo vivo, qui prastat nobis omnia 

abundanter adfruendum Thtsaurizent sibi funda- 

mentumrbonum infttturum, ut apprehendant veram vitam. 
Si debent thesaurizare, ut apprehendant veram vitam, pro- 
fecto ista, in qua erant, falsa ^-ita est. Apprehendenda est 
vera; migrandum est a faJsa. Et qua migrandum ? quo? 
Audi. Crede ; et transitum facis a morte ad vitam. 

Id. de Continentia, c. 7. " Pax perfecta tunc erit nobis, 
quando natura nostra Creatori suo inseparabihter cohaerente, 
nihil nobis repugnabit ex nobis." 

S. Ambro?. in Luc. Lib. v. " A te pacem incipe ; ut cum 
fueris ipse pacificus, pacem aUis feras." 

S. Chrysostom in Rom. v. 1. tlpfivTjv ex^'^j Tovr6 icn^ ^^«Tt 

iToXcjieiv npds Td¥ Oi6v, 



SPIRITUAL-MIXDEDNESS. 231 



peace wliich the world can neillier irive 
iior tak(^ away : of that peace which is 
only found where man identifies his own 
will witli that of (Jod, where the flesh is 
siihdued to the spirit, and where the crea- 
ture is endeavoring;^ to mould and fashion 
himself in all things as may he most 
pleasing to the Creator. I do not say 
that as yet you will attain to the fulness 
of life and peace ; for past transgression 
and present imperfections will render 
that impossible : but you will at least 
have tasted that the Lord is gracious, you 
Avill have judged by actual experience of 
that which He has in store for them that 
love Him. And hence you will have a 
source of comfort stronger than any other 
which the world can otier you, for it is 
a growing comfort, — one which will wax 
stronger and stronger continually, the 
further you advance in the path you have 
chosen. 

May that comfort be your's, my breth- 
ren, in all time of your tribulation, in all 
time of your wealth, in the hour of death, 
and in the day of judgment ! 

11 



SERMON XII. 

OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, HER MINISTERS, 
AND ORDINANCES. 

Hebrews xiii. 7, 8. 

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have 
spoken unto you the Word of God : whose faith follow 
considering the end of their conversation : Jesus Christ, tiie 
eame yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 

It seems to be the opinion of some of 
the most eminent persons who have left 
us their commentaries on the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, that St. Paul is here refer- 
ring to those Pastors or Bishops who were 
dead^ — (having, perhaps, witnessed a good 
confession, and been "slain for the "Word 
of God, and the testimony wliich they 
held)," — and not to the living nders of 
the Hebrew Church ; — the precepts, with 
respect to them, being given afterwards, 
in the seventeenth verse of the chapter 
before us. " Obey them that have the 



OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH. 233 

rule over you, and submit yourselves : 
for they watch for your souls as they that 
must give account, that they may do it 
with joy, and not with grief. 

If this be a true view of the case, the 
passage I have chosen for my text must 
be looked upon as an exhortation to the 
Hebrew Christians to cherish the remem- 
brance of tliose who, in times past, had 
preached and labored among them ; to 
adhere to the doctrine which they had 
taught, " Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
day, to-day, and for ever ;" and to stablish 
themselves, amid their trials, by the re- 
collections of the exemplary and glorious 
close of the Uves of such holy men. 

Even in those early days there had 
been a httle band who had not '* counted 
their Uves dear unto themselves, that so 
they might finish their course ^vith joy, 
and the ministry which they had received 
of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of 
the grace of God." Such had been holy 
Stephen, the Proto-mart}T of the Church. 
Such was James, the brother of John, 
whom Herod killed ^vith the sword. 
Such was Antipeis, the '• faithful mart}!:" 



234 OBEDIExXCE TO THE CHURCH, 

of Christ, who was slain at Pergamos; 
and such, no doubt, were divers others 
whose names are written in imperishable 
characters in the Book of Life, though 
the world has forgotten them. 

Now we, who live in these last times, 
are basking, as it were, in the full blaze 
of those luminaries which cheer and en- 
hghten the Church of God. To us, per- 
haps, Christ is nowhere more fully re- 
vealed than in His Saints ; nowhere have 
we such evidence of the regenerating, re- 
nev^ng, invigorating, sanctifying power 
of the grace of the Holy Spirit in the 
soul of man. To us the glorious com- 
pany of the Apostles, the goodly fellow- 
ship of the Prophets, the blessed choir of 
pure and virgin souls who have kept 
themselves unspotted from the world, all 
speak one language of encouragement ; 
they cheer us on to Mve as they hved, to 
love as they loved, to serve as they served, 
to take warning by theii* errors, to follow 
them as they followed Christ. We are 
compassed about with so great a cloud of 
witnesses, that it were shame and disgrace 
unutterable if we failed to run with pa- 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 235 

tience the race that is set before us. It 
is indeed one of our hi;L^hest blessings 
tliat it is given to us to look back upon the 
triumphs of those Saints of God who 
fought a good fight, and kept the faith. 
And in proportion as we value this source 
of consolation ourselves, can we under- 
stand hoAv encouraging to the Hebrews 
would be that exhortation which I have 
chosen for my text. It is evident that the 
Church was no longer at rest. Persecu- 
tion lay in the way of all who endeavor- 
ed to Uve godly in Christ Jesus. They 
who went forth unto Him without the 
camp must needs bear His reproach. 
Difficulties were increasing, perils tliick- 
ening, hearts failing. Should they go, or 
should they not go ? They were honest 
and sincere, but they needed some thought 
to inspirit them to meet the assaults of the 
evil, cruel world ; they desired some assur- 
ance that the trial to which they were ex 
posed was not more than flesh and blood 
had already felt. \Vliat comfort, at such 
a season, to be reminded of those who 
had already met the buffetings of the 
storm, and had anchored safely in the ever- 



236 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

lasting haven! " Remember them which 
have" had " the rule over you, who," in 
times past, " have spoken unto you the 
Word of God : whose faith follow, con- 
sidering the end of their conversation," 
the tenor of their hves, and the termina- 
tion of their labors, — " Jesus Christ, the 
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 

Now I might very well take occasion 
from these words to press on you a lesson 
which has been too much forgotten 
among us, though I trust we are begin- 
ning, at least, to remember it. Of course 
I allude to the manner in wliich we have 
laid aside the recollection of those who 
were our fathers, and who ought to be our 
patterns in the Faith. There was a time 
when too much was thought of the Saints 
departed. They were honored with an 
honor which I fear amounted to Idolatry, 
or at any rate to something most sadly 
like it, and they were invoked as if, in 
some sense, they could be mediators be- 
tween us and God. These were grie vous 
errors. But the abuse of a thing ought 
not to take away its use ; and to go into one 
extreme because the other is wrong is no 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 237 

proof of a sound judii^nient ; for all ex- 
tremes are had. Our fathers angered God 
by giving His honor to the Saints. It is 
likely that we anger Him, by withhold- 
ing the honor which He would have us 
render them ; that, namely, of remember- 
iiig how faithfully they served their Lord, 
and following them in their unshrink- 
ing devotion to the object of their faitli, 
^' Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, 
and lor ever." I might, therefore, very 
profitably inculcate upon you the duty of 
meditating much and often on the Uves 
of those holy persons who are comme- 
morated in the services of our Church ; 
and I might dwell with advantage on the 
privilege wliich has thus been vouchsafed 
us, but I shall rather prefer, on the pre- 
sent occasion, to direct your thoughts to 
another subject, which reflection upon 
the text will suggest ; I mean the dispo- 
sition of those persons to whom St. Paul 
addressed liis exhortation. The very form 
of that exhortation pre-supposes that they 
to whom it was addressed were persons 
who were wilUng to obey the Church, 
Her ministers and Her ordinances, as be- 



238 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

irig to them the representatives of Him 
Whom having not seen they loved, and 
Whom, though ascended up on high, they 
knew to be '• the same yesterday, to-day, 
and for ever." I propose, then, to make 
some observations on this spirit of wilhng 
obedience. 

And first let me observe that obedience 
is due to the Church upon the same 
grounds on which it is due to God Him- 
self! To obey that which He desires us 
to obey, is in fact to obey Him. His two 
most precious gifts to man are the Bible 
and the Church ; and these two gifts are 
so intimately connected with each other, 
and so thoroughly intended to be used in 
conjunction, that the one without the 
other, would be, comparatively speaking, 
valueless. The Church without the Bi- 
ble, would be the world Avithout the sun ; 
the Bible without the Church, would be 
as the sun shining in empt}^ space, with 
no planets travelhng round it, to be warm- 
ed by its heat, and Hghtened with its 
rays. God has given us the Holy Bible 
for the purpose of making His will knoA\T[i 
to man, of teaching us where to look for 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 239 

the means of grace, and of leading ns 
forward by inspiring us Avitli the hopes 
of Glory. God has given us His Holy 
Church to instruct us in the sound know- 
ledge of Scripture, and to guide our stei)S 
according to his revealed will. The Church 
teaches us how to carry out Into practice, 
what is written in the Bible ; it assists 
God's servants to walk sincerely in the 
faith of Jesus Christ, and live to the glory 
of God the Father. The Church is the 
appointed means through which we are 
brought into covenant with God. To the 
Church's keeping are hitrusted the bless- 
ed Sacraments, and the ordinances of re- 
ligion. To the Church is committed the 
keeping up the three-fold order of the 
Ministr}^, the only channel through wliich 
we can be quite sure that the grace of 
the sacraments is conveyed to those who 
receive them. Thus the Bible and the 
Church together contribute mutually to 
the work of God in the soul of man. 

But, it may be asked, since the Bible 
and the Church seem to have so promi- 
nent a part assigned them, is there no 
danger lest men should put the Bible, or 
11* 



240 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

the Church, in the place of the Saviour ? 
To this I reply that there is such a dan- 
ger; — a very serious one, as experience 
has shown, and such as it behooves us to 
guard ourselves against. The Bible and 
the Church are liable to abuse in com- 
mon with everything else that is most 
valuable. Where is the gift of God which 
man has not, or may not turn to his own 
destruction ? There have been those, be- 
fore now, who have made outward forms, 
and their trust in Church privileges, a 
substitute for inward piety, even as there 
have been those whose boast of Bible - 
knowledge, and self-confident reliance on 
their own private judgment in expound- 
ing Scripture, have led tliem far away 
from Scripture-truth, and Scrip ture-hoh- 
ness. The more good there may be in 
the right use of a tiling, the more may 
be its evil when perverted. The Bible 
and the Church are, as I have already 
said, tAvo of God's choicest gifts to man, 
and yet man may make either the one 
or the other the subject of an idolatiy as 
portentous as he ever has exhibited to- 
wards his money or his pleasure; he may, 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 241 

through the one or the other, defraud llim 
of His honor, Who hath expressly pro- 
ckiimed Himself to be a jealous God. 

But wliat preservative is there against 
so great an ol fence ? I reply, that so long 
as we not unduly exalt the one over the 
other, or use one to the exclusion of the 
other, — the Bible without the Church, or 
the Church without the Bible, — so Ions: 
as we give to each the relative import- 
ance, and maintain each in the relative 
position which God has assigned to them, 
we shall do well, and be safe from dan- 
ger. He who uses his Bible rightly will 
never put the Church in place of the 
Saviour : he who submits himself to the 
Church's guidance will never, even un- 
consciously, put his own private sense 
of the Bible in place of the Saviour. 
He will test what the Church teaches 
him by the Bible; he will be guided 
amid the difficulties of Scripture by learn- 
ing what the universal testimony of the 
Church (always, in all places, and by 
common consent) has been concerning 
them. And thus both the Church and 
the Bible will lead him to the truth as it 



242 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

is in Jesus. Together they will take him 
by the hand, and lead him to '-Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and 
for ever." The Bible will set before liim 
continually, AMio it is that is the Way, 
the Truth, and the Life ; The Church, no 
less continually, leads liim through out- 
ward ordinances and allegories to Hirn 
that is within the veil ; she brings him to 
the House of God, which is none other 
than the gate of heaven, puts into his 
mouth the words of prayer and praise, 
and gives him the blessings of an apos- 
tolical ministry to instruct, admonish, and 
comfort him. 

In all thin gs she speaks of Christ. From 
Him, as from a fountain of Uving waters, 
all her teaching emanates : to Him, as to 
its Object and its End, it all returns. He 
is all in all. A\lien we have Him we have 
all tilings, we are full, we abound, yea, 
are complete in Him. 

And see how the Church carries out 
this thought in all her pubhc services. 
Examine the construction of her form of 
Morning and Evening Prayer. Is it not 
so arranged that every part speaks of 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 243 

Him? that lie is, as it were, tlie one idra 
which pervades the whole, that whieli 
^ives to the whole its tone and coloring? 
Is not every prayer oU'ered in 11 is name, 
and on the ph^a of His merits and i>re- 
vailing intercession ? Is not the voice ot* 
thanksgiving raised to its highest ferven- 
cy, when it ofiers its praise " above all, for 
the redemption of the world by our Lord 
Jesus C'hrist r Are not the Psalms, the 
Lessons, the Epistles, the Gospels full of 
Him ? Is there any one brought more 
prominently forward than He, in that 
course of daily service, which, in theory 
at least (and oh I that it were in universal 
practice !) the Church offers from one 
week's end to the other, year by year con- 
tinually? Does she not desire to make 
her unceasing worship harmonize with 
the attribute of Him whom she worships, 
and who is " the same yesterday, to-day, 
and for ever ?" 

Again, look at that sacred calendar of 
the Church's year, and say whether it be 
not full of Christ ? In Advent, she re- 
minds us of His first coming, and exhorts 
to prepare for His second. At Christmas 



244 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

she sets before us the circumstances of 
His Birth ; at Epiphany of His manifesta- 
tion to us Gentiles. Then, Sunday after 
Sunday, she exhibits Him in His child- 
hood and youth, till Lent brings us to His 
temptation. For forty days we pass with 
Him a season of mortification and deep- 
ening gloom, till at length we approach 
the ineffable mysteries of His agony and 
bloody sweat, His cross and passion. His 
precious death and burial. Then burst 
upon us the splendors of His tiiumph, 
His glorious resurrection, and no less 
glorious ascension. Then, after that, 
comes the calm repose of the Sundays 
after Trinity, in which half a year is given 
us to contemplate at leisure His doctrine, 
and the subordinate events of His hfe ; 
while all the while, each Friday as it 
passes, brings before us, as a day of hu- 
miliation, the recollection of His Cross, 
and every Sunday that dawns, brings 
with it a weekly commemoration of His 
triumph over death and hell. Nor is this 
all; for, interspersed throughout the Sa- 
cred year. He is brought before our minds 
again and again in the history of those 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 245 

Saints of His, Avho aclorned His doctriiie 
ill all tliii)<»;s, and shed their blood in les- 
liQiony of llis truth ; and on that account 
are remembered in those anniversaries 
in whicli Cod is thanked for the hi^ht 
and comfort of their example. 

Finally, look at the occasional services 
of the Church, and say whether they too 
be not full of Christ. — First and foremost 
are the sacraments of llis own institu- 
tion ; wherein at Baptism our infants die 
and are buried with Him, and rise again 
with Him to newness of life, — with His 
Cross sis^ned on their foreheads, and 
pledged that they will continue His sol- 
diers and servants unto their lives' end : 
and next there is the Holy Eucharist, the 
commemorative sacrifice of His death, 
in which, by an unspeakable mystery, 
His Body and His Blood are verily and 
indeed communicated to the souls of the 
faithful. And so in the other rites and 
ceremonies of the Church, Christ is visi- 
bly set forth before His people continu- 
ally. In holy matrimony we are remind- 
ed of " the mystical union which is be- 
twixt Christ and His Church:" in the 



246 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

visitation of the sick, the privilege of suf- 
fering with Him is set before us : and in 
the burial of the dead, He Himself meets 
us with the consoling assurance, " I am 
the resurrection and the life. He that 
believeth in Me, though he were dead 
yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth 
and beUeveth in Me shall never die." 

Surely, brethren, the Church does not 
exalt herself into the Saviour's place. 
Surely there is no danger that they who 
teach as she teaches should put the 
Church in the place of the Saviour. If 
they claim obedience to her, it is because 
they are persuaded that out of her there 
is no safety. If they lay stress upon a 
careful attention to her ordinances, it is 
because they know that He Whom those 
ordinances bring before us is "Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and 
for ever." 

But, brethren, the text teaches us that 
more is required of us than obedience to 
the Church and her ordinances. It is 
expected of us that we show a wiUing 
respect and submission to the IVIinisters 
of the Church. " Remember them which 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 247 

liave the rule over you, who have spoken 
niito you the Word of God : whose laith 
Ibllow." *' Obey them that have tlie rule 
over you, and submit yourselves: for 
they watch for your souls as th(»y that 
must give account." So again, '^ We be- 
seech you, brethren, to know tlieni which 
labor among you, and are over you in the 
Lord, and admonish you ; and to esteem 
them very highly for their work's sake.'* 
These, and similar passages of Scripture 
which might be multipUed to a consi- 
derable extent, show us very clearly that, 
if the minister of Christ has duties to- 
wards the flock committed to his trust, 
the flock has likewise its duties towards 
its minister. And this is a truth which is 
sadly forgotten, or kept out of sight at 
the present day. If a clergyman neg- 
lects his flock, it is (as it ought to be) a 
scandal and a reproach, and the rumor 
of it will spread indignation from one 
side of the country to the other, and be 
a fruitful topic of declamation for the un- 
charitable and disaffected. But Avho ever 
hears a word of reproach against those 
who neglect all their duties to theh ap- 



248 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

pointed minister? Is the voice of pub- 
lic indignation loud against those who 
never pray for him, who show him no out- 
ward tokens of respect, who are offended 
at his godly admonitions, who thwart him 
whenever they can, and are not afraid to 
calumniate him and speak evil of him 
falsely ? One reason of this is, that they 
who thus transgress God's law have num- 
bers on their side, and the world is strong 
and powerful to silence the voice of un- 
palatable truth. But another reason may 
be found in those natural feelings of deh- 
cacy which have prevented the Clergy 
from speaking of their own claims, and 
so those claims have been in a great 
measure forgotten. It is always painful 
to humble-minded persons to speak of 
themselves or to magnify their office, and 
still more so, under circumstances in which 
they feel they may be charged with de- 
siring to become " lords over God's heri- 
tage," and to ''have dominion over" the 
people's "faith," even while in their hearts 
they know that they have no desire be- 
yond St. Paul's, — '' We preach not our- 
selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 249 

ourselves your servants for Jesus' 
sake." 

However, brethren, our ofliee is to de- 
clare unto you the whole counsel of Ciod, 
the entire circle of your duties. And 
therefore it is an error that we have 
shrunk from claiminj^ for ourselves that 
submission and obedience from you, 
which is assuredly our due as the Priests 
of God, however unworthy in ourselves. 
— Forgive us this wrong. 

It is one of the most melancholy cir- 
cumstances in the present crippled state 
of the Church, that many of our parishes 
are so large that many members of the 
flock can hardly know their clergyman 
by face, and therefore no such intercourse 
passes between them as, in theory at 
least, the Church intended. Let those 
among us who have the privilege of 
ministerial advice and instruction prize 
it, and profit by it, for most assuredly 
they will be judged hereafter for the use 
they have made of it. 

If it should be your misfortune to have 
one set over you who is careless, or ig- 
norant, or unfaithful, the affliction is a 



250 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH, 

heavy one : but take heed what you do: 
for you will but add sin to sin, if, instead 
of patiently submitting to the trial, and 
making the most of the means within 
your reach, and humbling yourselves 
under the chastisement, you make your 
pastor's errors the excuse for your own 
neglect of weighty duties, and betake 
yourselves to irregular sources of instruc- 
tion, and give way to a schismatical spirit. 
The way to meet such a misfortune is 
with prayer and humiliation. 

If, on the other hand (and this I sup- 
pose is the case with almost all), it has 
pleased God to set over you one whose 
heart is in his work, then I most earnestly 
entreat you to reflect how exceeding great 
will be your future punishment if you 
fail to obey the admonition of the text. 
Remember him who has the spiritual 
rule over you, and whose office it is to 
speak to you the word of God. His 
faith, tested by its accordance with the 
word of God, and the teaching of the 
Church, do you follow, considering the 
end of his conversation, "Jesus Christ, the 
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." He 



HER MINISTERS AND ORDINANCES. 2.'51 

comes to set before you that Saviour 
Whose gracious purposes of mercy to 
you have been from everlasting, \\ ho 
left His Father's glor}' to die for you, and 
returned to it to intercede for you. He 
comes to set before you Christ crucihed, 
and to teach you that in the taking up of 
a daily cross, and in the crucifixion of 
all your unruly alfections, appetites, and 
tempers, the only true following of Christ 
consists. Learn, therefore, to look upon 
your appointed minister, as your best and 
truest friend. Seek his ad\ice and guid- 
ance hi all the events of your life. Rev- 
erence him for his Master's sake, and try, 
at least, to love him for his own. Give 
him your confidence ; open your griefs 
to him ; lay bare your hearts to him, their 
scruples and doubtfulness ; confess your 
sins to him (not, of course, as tliough he 
could forgive them in his own individual 
capacity, but as a proof of your own sor- 
row for them, and) that so you may re- 
ceive his ghostly ad^ice, and counsel, and 
the comfortable assurance of absolution 
from God. Receive his warnings with 
thankfulness, his reproofs with lowhness 



252 OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH. 

and submission. Even if you feel them 
to be unjust, remember that they were 
kindly meant. Work with him, and work 
for him. 

And because he who thus watches 
over you is a sinner hke yourselves, full 
of infirmities, and ignorances, and weak- 
nesses ; since he is set in the midst of so 
many and great dangers, and has the 
hardest and the most perilous office to 
discharge which is assigned to man, bear 
with him and forgive him where the need 
shall be, take heed that you do not add 
to his anxieties, and increase his sorrows ; 
and above all things, pray for him, — pray 
for him fervently and unceasingly, that 
he who thus preaches unto others, may 
not himself prove a castaway. 



SERMON XIII. 



ON ALMSGIVING, 



Matthew vi. 1. 



" Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be 
Been of them : other>vise ye have no reward of your Father 
which is in heaven.'' 

Every reader of the Gospels must have 
observed that the sin against Avliich our 
blessed Lord most frequently warned His 
disciples, and those who attended His 
preaching, was that of hypocrisy. So 
frequently were certain particular classes 
of His countr}^men charged with this of- 
fence, that the very term of " Scribe" or 
*' Pharisee" is almost synonymous in our 
minds wth that of hypocrite. The most 
painful pictures are set before us of the 
conduct of these persons : how they 
sounded a taimpet before them when 
about to bestow their alms; how they 
stood praying in the corners of the streets 



254 ALMSGIVING. 

in order to be seen of men ; how, for a 
pretence, they made long prayers even 
while they were devouring widows' 
houses ; how the matter of their prayers 
was full of a spirit of excluvsiveness and 
presumption ; how, when they fa^ited, 
they disfigured their faces in order to 
attract observation ; how they perverted 
the truth with subtle casuistr}^, and en- 
deavored to confound the laws of right 
and wrong, teaching that to swear by the 
temple was nothing, but that he who 
swore by the gold of the temple was a 
debtor : how, under professions of reli- 
gion, they excused themselves from sup- 
porting their parents; how they made the 
Word of God of none effect, and reject- 
ed His commandment that they might 
keep their own traditions ; how they 
made clean the outside of the cup and 
platter, but within were full of extortion 
and excess ; and how they paid tithe of 
mint, and anise, and cummin, but omitted 
the weightier matters of the law, judg- 
ment, mercv. and faith. 

It is impossible to read the description 
of such characters without shame and 



ALMSGIVING. 2-35 

indignation, and williout a liopc thai, bad 
as they were, their uiunbers, as compared 
with the great body of their countrj^inen, 
were very Uniited. It may have been so, 
but yet it is quite evident tiiat there was 
danger of hypocrisy, and no shght dan- 
ger, in the case of all to wliom our Lord 
addressed HimseU'; or else we should 
not read that " when there were gathered 
together an innumemble multitude of 
people, insomuch that they trod one upon 
another,'- the blessed Jesus " began to say 
unto His disciples first of all, Beware ye 
of the leaven of the Pharisees wliich is 
hypocrisy :" nor again, at that sermon on 
the Mount, when he was surrounded by 
'• great multitudes of people from Galilee, 
and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, 
and from Judea, and from beyond Jor- 
dan," would He have spoken so strongly 
against hypocrisy in prayer, in almsgiv- 
ing, and in fasting, unless He had known 
that such admonitions were much need- 
ed, seeing that His discourse on that occa- 
sion was confined to a simple exposition 
of the duties of daily life, adapted to the 
12 



256 ALMSGIVING-. 

cases and understandings of all classes 
of hearers. 

It is evident, therefore, from this fact, 
that hypocrisy was not a rare sin in the 
days of our blessed Lord ; and since hu- 
man nature is very much the same at all 
times and under all circumstances, it may 
be presumed that this vice, which we can 
scarce mention without loathing and re- 
pugnance, is not so uncommon, as we 
may be disposed to imagine, among our- 
selves. And if we are inchned to deny 
the fact, it can only be because we have 
taken up some false notion of the mean- 
ing of the term " hypocrisy." 

What, then, is a hypocrite ? Simply 
one who pretends to be sometliing which 
he is not, who calls himself one thing 
while he is another, whose practice is dif- 
ferent from his profession. 

Now if this be the true meaning of the 
term, and I know no other, it is quite 
clear that in so far as we are walking un- 
worthy of our Christian calling, we are, 
one and all of us, hypocrites. — What a 
fearful consideration is this, when we re- 
flect that our Lord Himself, — the future 



ALMSGIVING. 257 

Judge of quick and dead, — has spoken 
of that place " where the worm dieth not, 
and the lire is not quenclied," where 
there is ''weeping, and wailing, and 
gnashing of teeth," as "the portion of 
the hypocrites !" What an argument it 
is against allowing ourselves to make 
high professions, that every profession so 
made, may, in the end, only serve to in- 
crease our condemnation ! What an in- 
ducement ought it to be to us to be 
diligent in self-examination, and in trac- 
ing our motives to their source, when we 
consider, that in order to constitute a 
hypocrite, it by no means follows that a 
person should be conscious that his pro- 
fessions and his practice are at variance. 
For aught we can see, the Pharisees and 
Scribes were not aware that they were 
inconsistent ; they seem to have deceived 
themselves as well as others, and not to 
have known that they were hypocrites ! 

Now, without entering at present more 
fully into this charge of hypocrisy, as ap- 
phcable in a greater or less degree to all 
w^ho call themselves Christians, but who 
do not live up to the Christian rule, I 



258 ALMSGIVING. 

would ask your attention while I endea- 
vor to set before you the subject of £dms- 
giving, as viewed with reference to our 
Lord's warning already alluded to. The 
whole passage is as follows. " Take heed 
that ye do not your alms before men, to 
be seen of them : otherwise ye have no 
reward of your Father which is in heaven. 
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, 
do not sound a trumpet before thee, as 
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and 
in the streets, that they may have glory 
of men. Verily, I say unto you, They 
have their reward. But when thou doest 
alms, let not thy left hand know what 
thy right hand doeth : that thine alms may 
be in secret ; and thy Father which seeth in 
secret Himself shall reward thee openly.'^ 

Here, then, we are taught, first, that 
almsgiving is a Christian virtue, and 
secondly, that almsgiving is acceptable 
or unacceptable to God according to the 
motive from which it springs. Let us 
enter into some detail on both these sub- 
jects. 

As to the fact that almsgiving is a 
Christian virtue, it is indeed altogether 



ALMSGIVINQ. 259 

unnecessary to say much. If one of the 
two great commandments of the law be 
that we should love our brethren as our- 
selves ; if the love which we exhibit to- 
wards our brethren will be takeiv here- 
after as the test of our love to God ; if we 
have the promise that a cup of cold water 
given to a fellow-creature for Christ's sake 
shall not lose its reward, there can be no 
doubt that to help the poor and needy out 
of our substance is as much a duty^as any 
other point of the moral law. And, in 
fact, there are multitudes of direct in- 
junctions on the subject. " Give to him 
that asketh thee, and from him that would 
borrow of thee, turn not thou away." 
" To do good, and to distribute, forget not, 
for with such sacrifices God is well pleas- 
ed." " Whoso hath tliis world's goods, and 
seeth his brother have need, and shutteth 
up his compassion from him, how dwell- 
eth the love of God in him?" These, 
and other texts of Scripture, which the 
Church enjoins to be read before the 
collection of alms at the Holy Commu- 
nion, abundantly prove what I have as- 
serted. 



260 ALMSGIVING. 

Nor, so far as I know, are persons usu- 
ally inclined to deny their responsibility 
in this matter. The question in its prac- 
tical bearing is not whether we should 
give alms, but hoio much we should give. 
And on this point men in general seem 
to have satisfied themselves. The rule 
appears to be to give as little as possible^ and 
this, because giving is rather looked upon 
as a duty than as a privilege, as a thing 
to be rather done out of the fear, than 
out of the love of God. Yet what saith 
the Scripture? "He that soweth httle 
shall reap httle, and he that soweth plen- 
teously shall reap plenteously. Let every 
man do according as he is disposed in his 
heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity, for 
God lovetli a cheerful giver." " Charge 
them who are rich in this world, that 
they be ready to give, and glad to dis- 
tribute." " Be merciful after thy power. 
If thou hast much, give plenteously : if 
thou hast httle, do thy diligence gladly to 
give of that little." 

And further, by way of warning, we 
are told of the young ruler, who could not 
make up his mind that it would be a pri- 



ALMSGIVING. 261 

vilege to sell all he had and give to the 
poor, and follow Christ, and who therehy 
lost the honor of being an apostle ; and 
by way of examjjk, we have Zaccheus 
whose habit it was to give half of his 
goods to the poor. 

It appears, then, that the Christian who 
is in earnest will give not as little^ but a^ 
much as he can in the way of alms-deeds. 
He will lay it down as a rule never to be 
departed from, that a certain proportion 
of his income shall be set aside as con- 
secrated, as holy unto the Lord, and to be 
spent as unto the Lord, on the poor of 
Christ. And this he will do whether he 
be wealthy or the reverse. If he has 
much, he will give plenteously ; if he has 
httle, he will give gladly of that httle. 
Whatever be his means, he will so arrange 
the disposition of them that there shall be 
something superfluous, something which 
he may offer to God, and be so spent as 
to bring down God's blessing on the re- 
mainder. It has often been said, that if 
we do not proportion our charities to our 
means, we are likely to provoke God to 
proportion our means to our charities, and 



262 ALMSGIVING. 

make us able to give no more than we 
do. This is of course true, and it is a 
fair argument to be addressed to those 
who are indisposed to act upon higher 
grounds ; but he who is striving to serve 
God faithfully would be glad (if it were 
possible) to outstrip, with his ready zeal, 
the commands of the Most High, and 
therefore to him such an appeal would be 
unnecessary. There are few, however, 
who, from their circumstances in life, 
and the absence of family and other 
claims, could follow the example of Zac- 
cheus ; hardly any, perhaps, who would 
do rightly in doing that which was pro- 
posed to the young ruler ; but all, I should 
suppose, have it in their power to make 
some sacrifices, and to forego somewhat 
in order that they may minister to those 
who are less well off than themselves. 
Those who are rich may give largely, and 
prove that they are giving largely by 
stinting themselves in the luxuries of 
their tables, their apparel, their equipages, 
and so forth. Those who have no money 
to bestow may give their skill, their time, 



ALMSaiVINQ. 263 

their ready service to tliose of their breth- 
ren who need them. 

I fear, brethren, it is quite impossible 
to look at the extremes of s])lcndor, and 
the extremes of misery, which are to be 
seen in this countr}', without coming to 
the conchision, that we must have adopt- 
ed a very false notion as to what is re- 
quired of us with respect to those who 
are suffering from the evils of ignorance, 
poverty, and disease. That individuals 
may be found who are making to them- 
selves friends of the mammon of unright- 
eousness, by sanctifying their wealth to 
Christian purposes, there is happily no 
doubt ; but the mass of us, it is to be 
feared, have httle taste for self-denial, and 
little desire to acquire such a habit. The 
proof of this is, that we limit our liberal- 
ity to the standard adopted by the world 
around us; whereas, as Christians, we 
ought to give all we can spare, and, as 
Christians, w^e ought to be able to spare 
all that is not actually indispensable. 
For all that we have we hold in trust, 
and for all that we hold we shall have to 

12* 



264 ALMSGIVING. 

account hereafter, even to the uttermost 
farthing, 

But it may be said, that although we 
do not do all that we ought, still a great 
deal is done, and no appeal is brought 
before the public which is not immedi- 
ately responded to. 

Now I v^U grant this for argument's 
sake : but let us at the same time re- 
member the words of the text : " Take 
heed that ye do not your alms before 
men, to be seen of them : otherwise ye 
have no reward of your Father which is 
in heaven." 

It is quite clear that a certain amount 
of almsgiving must be public. This is 
inevitable ; but is there any need that 
so large a proportion of our alms-deeds 
should be made pubhc, as is the case at 
present? Almost every printed subscrip- 
tion-list seems to carry with it a two-fold 
evil : first, there is the evil that the left 
hand knows what the right hand has 
been doing, and secondly, it is a per- 
petual incitement to niggardliness ; men 
are thereby induced to give, not accord- 



ALMSGIVING. 205 

ing to tlieir means, but according to what 
somebody else has giveji. 

But allowing that pubUcity must occa- 
sionally attend upon almsgiving, and that 
it is sometimes desimble for the sake of 
setting a good example, may it not be 
asked whether people are as willing to 
give away their money, when their liber- 
ality will remain unknown, as when it 
will come before the world ? 

Herein, brethren, you will do well to 
search and examine your hearts, for here- 
in we may find within us, unthought of, 
and unsuspected, the creeping root of 
hypocrisy. Some of our charity must 
be public ; but is the greater portion of it 
private ? Do we endeavor as much as 
possible to make it private ? Do we give 
with simplicity, thinking no more about 
it when our alms-deed is done ; or are 
we tempted to compare our own liberal- 
ity with the niggardliness of others, and 
look on what we do with self compla- 
cency ? Again ; upon what principle do 
we give ? Is it in order that we may 
establish a character for humanity and 
generosity ? that we may be popular, as 



266 ALMSGIVING. 

it is called ? or do we make our offerings 
•with single-heartedness, as unto God, and 
for the sake of Him Who for our sakes 
became poor, that we through His poverty 
might become rich ? Do we see Christ 
Himself in His poor and afflicted, and do 
we therefore treat them as we would 
treat Him, — reverently, I mean, and with 
dehcacy, and not as though we were 
patronizing them, or as wishing to make 
them feel that they are under obhgations 
to us? Have we less satisfaction in 
ministering to those whose obscurity is 
likely to prevent their being able to say 
much about what we have done for 
them, than in giving assistance to those 
who are in a position to speak in such a 
manner of our liberahty, that we are 
likely to hear of it again ? Do we, in 
short, in any respect, think more of our 
public charities than of our private. alms- 
deeds? If we do, can it be fairly said 
that we do not partake of the hypocrisy 
of the Pharisees ? 

It would be a most happy thing for us 
all if a custom prescribed by our Church, 
indeed I may say very strktly enjoined, 



ALMSGIVING. 267 

but which, through our hard-heartedncss 
and covetousness, has till lately fallen 
into disuse, were revived universally. It] 
as every Sunday came round, the people 
had the opportunity of doing what St. 
Paul so strongly recommended, I mean 
oftering their alms according to their 
ability, in that part of the divine service 
which is called the Offertory, there would 
be much less scope for hypocrisy and os- 
tentation than there is at present. Those 
who could give but httle, would not, as 
now, be often prevented from giving at 
all, because they can only give a little ; 
while the rich, from the frequency of the 
call made upon them by the Church, 
would get into the habit of thinking more 
of the responsibilities which wealth in- 
volves. They would learn to view their 
condition more as the Bible teaches them 
to view it, and to act upon the conviction 
that riches are a peril, and a snare, and 
that they only are happy who are con- 
tinually offering them to God. 

Again, there is something in the facts 
that the alms of each individual at the 
Offertory are, as it were, offered in pri- 



268 ALMSGIVING. 

vate, though the offering in its collective 
amount is public; that no one knows 
what another gives ; and that the whole 
is offered in one sum upon God's altar, 
the common tribute of rich and poor, 
mingled together without distinction or 
difference : there is, I say, something in 
these facts which is admirably calculated 
to make us realize to ourselves that we 
are in very deed members one of an- 
other, and to divest us of those feelings 
which lay at the root of hypocrisy in 
almsgiving. 

It does not fall in with the design of 
this discourse to point out the special 
objects to which your alms should be 
directed : but I may say, in passing, that, 
as a general rule, you are hkely to do 
more good by bestowing your alms in 
your own neighborhood, where you know 
the history and condition of those to 
whom you minister, than by contributing 
to objects which (for there is a fashion in 
charity as well as in religion) happen to 
be the fashionable claimants of sympathy. 
At any rate there is least danger to your- 
selves in such a course, least danger of 



ALMSGIVING. 209 

self-deception and hypocrisy. — In saying 
this, however, I do not mean to dissuade 
you from co-operating with those venera- 
ble societies, which, under the sanction 
of the rulers of our Church, are laboring 
for the propagation of the Gospel among 
the heathen, the promotion of education 
and Christian knowledge among our- 
selves, the restoration or erection of 
churches, and the supply of curates for 
populous places. I am sure when we 
reflect upon the mercies which, as a na- 
tion, we have received ; as we see on all 
sides the proofs of national weahh ; as, 
in the midst of comforts and luxuries such 
as Tyre and Babylon never knew, we 
witness such destitution, and poverty, and 
heathen ignorance, and crime, as I should 
hope no other nation, calling itself Chris- 
tian, was ever yet afliicted with ; we 
ought, all of us, from highest to lowest, 
to lend our aid at the cost of even the 
severest self-denial, to remove the load 
of misery, moral, social, and physical, with 
which we are surrounded. If we have 
any bowels of compassion, if we have 
any real love for Christ Who died for us, 



270 ALMSGIVING. 

we shall have pity on our brethren, and 
do v^hat in us lies to remove from our- 
selves the stigma of being at once the 
most prosperous and most covetous, the 
most favored and most ungrateful, the 
most luxurious and hardest-hearted peo- 
ple, for whom the cup of vengeance is 
prepared. 

May God have mercy on us, and for- 
give us our sins of omission as well as of 
commission ! May His good Spirit pour 
into our hearts such a measure of grace 
as may enable us to battle successfully 
with all greedy and ostentatious tempers ! 
May He give us a dread of hypocrisy, of 
professing more than we practise, of lov- 
ing the praise of men more than the 
praise of God ! May He keep us from 
deceiving others, or ourselves! May He 
make us liberal, generous, open-hearted, 
ready to give, and glad to distribute, and 
with all our other graces may He give 
us the grace of a lowly and an humble 
mind ! 



SERMON XIV. 

ON PRAYER. 

Matthew, vi. 5. 
"When thou prayest thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. 

AYe are sent into this world in order that 
we may go through such a course of dis- 
ciphne and trial as may fit us for a better ; 
in order that we may learn by practical 
experience, that it is a happier thing to 
submit ourselves in all things to God, 
than to have a will of our own ; in order 
that we may be taught that apart from 
God there is neither light, comfort, nor 
safety, and that in communion with Him 
is the soul's chief good to be found. 1'hus 
we are gradually prepared to enjoy hea- 
ven, — a place for which by nature we have 
no desire, and which, even were we ad- 
mitted into it such as we are by nature, we 
should find to be no portion of happiness 



272 PRAYER. 

to US, but a scene of insupportable con- 
straint, wherein we should find nothing 
which would be in unison with our affec- 
tions and desires. 

Now, prayer being the most effectual 
method of bringing our souls into com- 
munion with God, Holy Scripture sets 
before us the duty of prayer in the strong- 
est possible terms, and represents it as 
that which must occupy the greater por- 
tion of a Christian's life. " Watch and 
pray" is the exhortation of our Lord to 
His disciples. For them He provided a 
form of prayer, while His own life was a 
pattern and example of it. And the Holy 
Apostles were no less urgent in teaching 
their converts that prayer was to be the 
business of their existence. " Continue 
in prayer, and watch in the same with 
thanksgiving." " Watch unto prayer." 
" Watch and pray always." " Pray with- 
out ceasing." " Continue instant in pray- 
er." These, and a hundred other texts to 
the same purport, will readily occur to the 
recollection of all who are in the habit 
of reading their Bibles. 

Accordinglv, the Church has, from the 



PRAYER. j^V^ 

times of the Apostles, provided for her 
children that they should never he with- 
out opportunities of public prayer, well 
knowing that thus she had the best guar- 
antee that private devotion would not be 
neglected. She has declared universally 
that, so far as in her hes, the people shall 
never be without places in which to pray, 
or without a priesthood to pray for them, 
and with them. It is, indeed, our shame, 
and guilt, and misery, here in England, 
that, for the most part, our churches are 
locked up from week's end to week's end ; 
and that, except on Sundays, we may 
look in vain through the courts of the 
Lord's house for either priests or worship- 
pers ; but so long as the Prayer-book ex- 
ists, we have a witness against us, for 
there it is enjoined that morning and eve- 
ning prayer should be read daily in our 
churches throughout the year ; and it 
seems to me that a clergyman is just 
as much bound to discharge this duty, 
when only two or three will come and 
join with him, as he is to baptize infants, 
or bury the dead which are brought to 
him. 



274 PRAYER. 

But our sloth and unbelief, how much 
soever they may prevent the Church's in- 
tentions from being carried out, cannot 
prevent her from being a witness against 
us, her unthankful and disobedient chil- 
dren, — any more than they can prevent 
those who, in times past, amid much of 
error and superstition, yet had their 
churches open for prayer and praise night 
and day, and had their seven-fold course 
of daily prayer, from rising up in judgment 
against us, who are open-mouthed in our 
boastings of superior knowledge, purity, 
and devotion. 

Yet, on the whole, it appears that, how- 
ever defective we may be in our practice, 
we none of us make any question as to 
the duty of constant prayer, and there- 
fore it is unnecessary that I should bring 
arguments to prove what you are quite 
prepared to admit ; and I may, therefore, 
proceed at once to a consideration of the 
warning contained in the text. The 
Pharisees, like ourselves, fully admitted 
the necessity of prayer ; and they went 
further than we do, for they appear to 
have been very dihgent in the discharge 



PRAYER. is 7 5 

of their duty only ; unhappily, they prayed 
in such a way as to be guilty of the sin 
of hypocrisy. 

Now there are people in the world who 
profess such a horror of the sin of hypo- 
crisy, that they seein well nigh disposed 
to recommend the rehnquishment of any 
habit which, by any possibility, might 
foster it But was this the language of 
our blessed Lord ? Far otherwise. He 
did not forbid His disciples to pray, be* 
cause the Pharisees turned their prayers 
into a sin, but taught them how to pray 
in such a manner as that their prayers 
should not be turned into sin. " When 
thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the 
hypocrites are : for they love to pray 
standing in the synagogues and in the 
corners of the streets, that they may be 
seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, 
they have their reward. But thou, when 
thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and 
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy 
Father which is in secret ; and thy Fath- 
er which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly." 

Now there is this difference between 



276 PRAYER. 

this admonition and one which we con- 
sidered in a former discourse, that to us 
at the present day there does not seem 
much temptation to fall into it. We are 
in danger, very many of us, of gi^ing 
our alms in a pubhc manner, for the pur- 
pose of gaining the applause of men, 
just as was the habit of the Pharisees of 
old ; but times and customs are so far al- 
tered, that nobody who did not wish to be 
thought a madman, would, now-a-days, 
stand praying at the corners of the streets. 
I am not expressing an opinion whether, 
abstractedly, there would be any impro- 
priety in praying in such a situation ; I 
am simply stating a fact. Manners and 
feehngs are changed ; we are rather 
ashamed of praying, than proud of it; 
and were we to choose any pubhc and 
conspicuous place hke the corners of the 
streets for our devotions, we should not 
be respected but ridiculed. And there- 
fore, the exact sin of the Pharisees is, per- 
haps, not to be found among us. Nobody 
is a hypocrite who has not some end to 
gain by liis hypocrisy, and no advantage 
would arise to any man, in the present 



PRAYER. 277 

state of society, from making sucli a pub- 
lic exhibition of himself; as that alluded 
to by our blessed Lord. 

Nevertheless, Satan has not lost his 
advantage over us. He is ever skilful to 
adapt his snares to the tempers of the 
times : and when one form of temptation 
ceases to be attractive, he is never slow 
in finding another to supply its place ; 
he is at no loss lor expedients, and if he 
sees that one form of error has lost its 
power over us, he will readily prepare 
some more subtle method of seduction. 

Now, let us consider how he tempts 
men to be hypocrites in their prayers at 
the present day, and among ourselves. 

The Pharisees loved ^' to stand praying 
in the synagogues, and in the corners of 
the streets," that they might be seen of 
men. They were so presumptuous as to 
assume the attitude of prayer for the mere 
purpose of producing an effect on the by- 
standers, while all the while they were 
not even attempting to lift up their hearts 
unto God, or if any of them were not 
altogether so profane and audacious as 
this, still they prayed from a wrong mo- 



278 PRAYEIL 

tive, and in such a manner as that their 
prayers were turned into sin. The pro- 
bability seerns to be, that those among 
them who were least ill-disposed were so 
self-deceived as to be, in a great measure, 
ignorant that they were committing any 
offence at all. They were unsuspicious 
of the depth of their own corruption, and 
had no knowledge of the motives that 
really actuated them. In the first in- 
stance, perhaps, they had been perfectly 
sincere and single-hearted, they had de- 
sired to serve God acceptably, and had 
entered upon EQs service, for its own 
sake, with zeal and devotion. By and 
by the notice of men came to them un- 
sought; they found themselves spoken 
of as more religious than their neighbors; 
their society was courted by serious-mind- 
ed persons; their opinions and actions 
were canvassed and talked about. There 
was something gratifying in this; it was 
an evidence, they persuaded themselves, 
that they were in truth leading a saintly 
life. And so the seed of vanity was sown 
in their hearts. And when the devil has 
once effected this, his work is well-nigh 



rRAVLii. 279 

done ; all tlie rest is easy, and follows al- 
most as a matter of course. So we may 
presume it was wilh the Pharisees. The 
more they were admired, the more they 
prayed; for admiration became necessary 
to them, and they could not live out of 
the excitement of public applause. And 
so by degrees, though they went on pray- 
ing as much or more than ever, they con- 
trived to substitute self in the place of 
God : they honored llim with their lips, 
while their hearts were far from Ilim; 
they loved the praise of men more than 
the praise of God ; and without a suspi- 
cion of their grievous fall, or of the of- 
fensiveness of their conduct in His eyes, 
they believed themselves to be eminently 
pious; yea, they trusted hi themselves 
that they were righteous, and they de- 
spised others, though all the while they 
were hypocrites. 

Now if we consider the case of the 
Pharisees in this point of view, it will, I 
think, appear that persons at the present 
day are not without danger of falling into 
their sin, and the more so, perhaps, be- 
cause at first sight it seems so very un- 

13 



280 PRAYER. 

likely that any of us should do so. I 
will exemplify what I mean by a few in- 
stances. 

Among respectable people it is always 
in a man's favor, and is spoken of as a 
credit to him, that he is a regular church- 
goer, that he attends whenever he has 
an opportunity on the public ordinances 
of rehgion. Now let me ask whether it is 
not at least conceivable, that young per- 
sons might be found, who are in the ha- 
bit of commg to church, not because 
God is their first object, but because they 
wish to please parents, or relations, or 
friends ? 

Might not a servant be found here or 
there, who, while he hves in what is call- 
ed a rehgious family, will appear to be 
very attentive to his rehgious duties, but 
who, when he goes into a situation where 
none of these tilings are cared for, will 
become quite neglectful of divine wor- 
ship? Are there many parishes, think 
you, in which no individuals might be 
pointed out (if we could read each other's 
hearts as God can) who come to church 
for the purpose of teeping well, as it is 






PRAYKIl. 681 

called, with the clers^yman, and with 
some secret thought of tliereby benelit- 
ing their temporal interests as occasions 
arise ? Ap^ain, in another class of life are 
tliere none who come to church for form's 
sake, and fashion's sake, and because 
they are used to it, rather tlian because 
God is in all their thoughts f Now, breth- 
ren, if an affirmative answer must be 
given, as I fear it must, to these ques- 
tions, is there not evidence of Pharisaic 
hypocrisy among ourselves ? 

Let us go on to another instance. — We 
go to church, and, so far as lips and bodily 
motions are concerned, appear to be de- 
vout in our service of the Most High: 
but are we what we seem? Does it dis- 
tress us if our thoughts wander? Do 
we strive to prevent them from wan| 
dering? Do we habitually consider in 
Whose presence we are, and Who it is 
that we address? Do we sai/ prayers, 
or do we pray ? Do we feel sorrow when 
we express it? Are we thankful when 
we saj/ we are ? I well know the diffi- 
culty of fixing our attention on sacred 
things as we ought to do, but are we, at 



282 PRAYER. 

least, trying to be devout, at the time 
when before men we show all the exter- 
nals of devotion ? If not, here again is 
a further case of resemblance to the 
Pharisees. 

Once more. Many of us, it is to be 
hoped, have the advantages of family 
prayer in our households. Now, are 
there any who will make a point of be- 
ing at family prayers, where their pre- 
sence or absence would be remarked, 
but who, nevertheless, are quite careless 
about their private prayers, or perhaps 
excuse themselves from saying them at 
all, on the plea that to join in the family 
prayers is sufficient ? AVould not such 
a habit as this savor strongly of h}^o- 
crisy ? 

And further, with respect to our pri- 
vate prayers. While we take good care 
to obey the first part of our Lord's in- 
junction, by not praying as we stand at 
the corners of the streets, are we equally 
careful to attend to the remainder of His 
admonition? Do we enter into our clo- 
sets, and shut to the door, and pray as 
dihgently in private as in pubhc? Should 



PRAYER. 293 

we be equally distressed were we to for- 
get our moruing or evening prayers, as 
we should be if we were to lind our- 
selves (mistaking the day) going about 
our week-day work on Sundays, when 
other people were preparing for church ? 
If we were betrayed into such a sin as 
laughing or talking in God's immediate 
presence, in His house of prayer, I sup- 
pose we should, on reflection, be very 
much ashamed of ourselves, and very 
much grieved that we should have ex- 
posed ourselves to the condemnation of 
all reverent and serious-minded persons ; 
but should we be as much ashamed and 
grieved at any irreverence or carelessness 
in our private devotions ? If not, it must 
be admitted that we are so far like the 
Pharisees that we make more account of 
what men think of us, than of what we 
may be in the sight of God. 

Lastly, I would observe that there is a 
danger to some, arising from the increas- 
ed attention to Church observances, which 
it has been the privilege of our genera- 
tion to witness. 

Turn where we will, we find among 



284 PRAYER. 

Churchmen a Rowing desire to avail 
themselves of such opportunities, as may 
be placed within their reach, of" cairying 
out the system prescribed for their use in 
the Prayer-book. But a few years ago, 
when the revival of Di\ine service on 
the Festivals, or daily throughout the year, 
was spoken of, and more frequent admi- 
nistration of the Holy Communion re- 
commended, the suggestions were met 
by the objection that such an attempt 
would be useless, for that people would 
not be induced to alter their estabhshed 
ways of going on. But they knew little 
of the hving power that there is in Church 
ordinances, nor of the deep yearning of 
multitudes for them, who thus reasoned. 
Never, so far as I can learn, in a single 
instance, has an increase of ser\ices been 
without its results, — small at first, but 
gradually extending, even as the mus- 
tard seed, from being the smallest of 
seeds, will produce a tree in w^hich the 
birds of the air can lodge. 

They who have leisure, have general- 
ly, even from the first, been glad to de- 
vote more time to God and holy things ; 



PRAYER. 295 

and they who have no leisure, have con- 
trived to make it, so that there are now 
churehes in this country, in which, every 
morning, two or three hundred men, in 
their laboring dresses, may be seen as- 
sembled in prayer, before they go forth to 
work for their daily bread. 

Surely this is a most cheering symp- 
tom, among much that is disheartening, 
not to say appalhng; it almost kindles 
the hope that, for tJicir sake, the country 
may be spared, for had ten righteous men 
been found in it, even Sodom itself would 
not have been " set forth, for an example, 
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." 

But because this is a good sign, so 
much the more sure may we be, that 
there is evil lurking near it ; 1 ecause this 
gives ground for trusting tliat many will 
be thereby called from Satan unto God, 
so much the more reason have we to 
expect that Satan will leave no means 
untried by wliich he may corrupt and 
destroy, or render inert what else would 
be full of promise. 

Let us take heed then, as many of us 
as are gladly availing ourselves of such 



296 PRAYER. 

increased means of grace as the Church 
puts within our reach, lest the devil, 
through his subtlety, and cunning lying 
in wait to deceive, should make all our 
labor in vain, which most assuredly he 
will do, if he can induce us to grow for- 
mal, to trust in forms, or to attend upon 
forms, for the purpose of gaining the ap- 
plause of men. 

With respect to the last point, indeed, 
there is not at present much danger : the 
tide has set in a contrary direction : but 
even calumny and resiling are not with- 
out their dangers, since they who are ca- 
lumniated have always the temptation to 
think much of themselves, on that very 
account. And so likewise the feehng 
ourselves to be of a little flock who are 
serving God in His Church continually, 
keeping up the remembrances of His 
Saints of old, and His wonders of old 
time, observing fast and festival, and hv- 
ing by a rule of which the world with- 
out knows notliing, or, which knowing, 
it despises ; all this has in it the seeds of 
the self-same danger into wliich the Phari- 
sees fell. It may (or rather, through it, 



PRAYER. 287 

Satan may) induce ns to trust in our own 
righteousness and despise others ; — to set 
great store by forms and i)etty observ- 
ances, and omit the weightier matters of 
the law ; — to "fast twice in the week and 
give tithes of all we possess," and on that 
ground to grow presumptuous and self- 
confident. 

" Salt is good ; but if the salt have lost 
his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned ? 
It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for 
the dunghill ; but men cast it out." And 
so, likewise, forms are good ; but if the 
forms have lost their spirituality, where- 
with will they profit us ? they are alto- 
gether valueless ; they are positively evil. 

Rest then, my brethren, not upon forms, 
but on Him to AMiom it is the object of 
the Church's forms to lead you. Be dili- 
gent and exact in carrying out the whole 
system which the Church prescribes to 
you ; but, when all is done, see that you 
are not trusting in your own imperfect 
obedience, or rather, I should say, in your 
own miserable deficiencies, but in Christ 
Who died to purchase our redemption. 
Pray without ceasing, continue instant in 

13* 



288 PRAYER. 

pra^^er, and use gladly all the means 
which may aid you in acquiring the spirit 
of prayer ; but set, meanwhile, a watch 
upon your hearts, lest any earthly motive 
mingle with and pollute your intercourse 
with the Most High. Be ye instant in 
prayer, both public and private, but very 
suspicious of yourselves all the while, 
and examine well lest there be lurking 
within some secret longing after human 
applause, some desire to be thought reli- 
gious. Pray without ceasing ; but when 
you pray, " be not as the hypocrites are, 
for they love to pray standing in the syna- 
gogues, and in the corners of the streets, 
that they may be seen of men. Verily, I 
say unto you, they have their reward. 
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into 
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy 
door, pray to thy Father which is in se- 
cret; and thy Father which seeth in secret 
shall reward thee openly." 

And " Oh Almighty and everlasting 
God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, 
and, in all our dangers and necessities, 
stretch forth Thy right hand to help and 
defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen." 



SERMON XV. 

ON FASTING. 

Matthew vi. 17, IS. 

Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash 
thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto 
thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father wliich seeth 
in secret sliall reward thee openly. 

The first point to which I would call 
your attention in the consideration of this 
passage, is the relation it bears to the con- 
text. It is the last of three instances 
adduced by our blessed Lord, in which, 
with respect to certain known and ac- 
knowledged duties, He put His follow- 
ers on their guard against becoming hypo- 
crites. ' 

The two other points specified by Him 
were those of Almsgiving and Prayer. 
And as in neither of these instances does 
He think it necessary to insist on the ob- 
servance of the duty, but only speaks of 



290 FASTIXG. 

the manner in which it is to be perform- 
ed ; so, here, He docs not enjoin His fol- 
lowers to fast, for He assumes that tlicy 
would do so, but shows them that there 
is a wrong as well as a right way of ex- 
ercising this kind of self-denial. 

He does not say, " If thou doest alms, 
do not sound a trumpet before thee," or 
" If thou prayest, enter into thy closet,'* 
or " If ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, 
of a sad countenance ;" but " when thou 
doest alms," ^^ ivhen thou prayest," ^^ichen 
ye fast." It is taken as a matter of course 
that those who desire to serve God ac- 
ceptably will do these things according 
to their abilities and opportunities, with 
glad and willing minds, without question- 
ing or doubting. The three duties are, in 
this respect, put upon precisely the same 
footing. There may be cases in which it 
would be wrong to fast, in which a man 
has no alms to bestow, or in which re- 
tirement for the purpose of prayer is im- 
possible, but these are the exceptions, not 
the rule ; in ordinary cases, the discharge 
of any one dut}^ is as much expected as 
the others. 



FASTING. 291 

Such, I tliink, at least would br the 
impression of any person who read tlie 
entire passage, if he could do so candidly, 
and without preconceived oi)inions. But 
in the present state of things there is not 
much probabihty that this view of the 
case will be readily admitted to be the 
true one, because there is a very strong 
repugnance among us to the act of fast- 
ing. We are a hixnrious, pampered, 
self-indulgent people, who have alto- 
gether got out of the way of bodily mor- 
tification and selfdenial, and to many 
the very name of fasting is an oflence 
and an affront. Some excuse themselves 
on one ground, and some on another. 
With the plea that is commonly brought 
on the score of health I do not wish to 
join issue ; but I desire to say a few 
words to those who allege that they do 
not fast, because fasting is not enjoined 
in Scripture. Prayer and alms-deeds, such 
persons say, are commanded again and 
again, but we find no law laid down on 
the subject of fasting. 

Now to this I reply, in the first place, 
that it seems to me that there is certainly 



292 FASTING. 

a divine sanction for fasting in the pre- 
cept appointing the Jewish great pabhc 
Fast on the day of Atonement,^ a day 
which, in its moral purpose, seems to cor- 
respond very much with the Church's 
intent in appointing the observance of 
Good Friday. And again, if the prophets 
were sent to command a special pubhc 
fast, or to recognize and command the 
observance of those which were in use 
among the Jews, this also is a divine 
sanction.! Whatever was in practice 
under the Law, and is not abrogated by 
the Gospel, is still in force. We observe 
a Sabbath, but not the Jewish Sabbath : 
so we are to observe some fasts, but not 
the Jewish fasts. 

Admitting, however, in the second 
place, that I can adduce no such im- 
perative command with respect to bodily 
abstinence, as I can for prayer and alms- 
deeds ; nothing so strong as " Pray 
without ceasing, " or " Sell that ye have, 
and give alms ;" — still for this an obvious 
reason may be alleged, which will tend 

* Levit. xvi. 29—31, and xxiii. 26—32. 
t Joel i. 14, ii. 15; Zech. vii, 5, viii. 19. 



Fasting. 293 

rather to confirm, than disprove the (rcne- 
ml obligation to fasting. Here and there, 
there may be some whose natural con- 
stitution and bodily iniirmities are such, 
that it would be physically impossible for 
them to obey such a command without 
self-destruction. For their sake, doubt- 
less, the command to fast was not made 
direct and universal ; for we know that 
it was never Gt)d's purpose to lay on us 
more than we are able to bear, because 
our Lord Himself hath taudit us that 
" the Sabbath was made for man, and 
not man for the Sabbath ;" that is, as a 
holy man^ explains it, " greater is the 
care to be taken of the health and hfe of 
man, than the keeping of the Sabbath." 
With regard to prayer, however, there 
are none who are accountable beings but 
can pray : and with regard to alms, the 
very poorest and most destitute man who 
hves may address his fellow sufierer in 
the words of St. Peter, '' Silver and gold 
have I none, but such as I have give I 
thee ;" may at least share his sorrows, 

* Bede in loc. 



294 FASTING. 

and cheer him with kindness and sym- 
pathy. 

But, my brethren, those who allege 
that their indisposition to fast arises from 
their being unable to find a direct com- 
mand on the subject in holy Scripture, 
will do well to consider whither the car- 
rjing out of such a principle will lead 
them. Are they prepared to give up In- 
fant Baptism, or the observance of the 
Lord's Day, or the blessing of the Chiu^ch 
in marriage, or the Christian burial of the 
dead? Yet for none of these can we 
bring forsvard any express command. 
And yet. in behalf of fasting, we can allege 
a stronger scriptural warrant than for any 
of these. We can allege in its behalf, 
not only many examples of holy men un- 
der the elder Covenant,^ not only much 
that has been ^^Titten in the Prophets 

• " The fast of Ai under Joshua ; at Gibeah under the 
Judges ; at jMizpah under Samuel ; at Hebron under David ; 
of Jeremia before the captinty : of Daniel under it ; of 
Zacharj- after it : at Jerusalem, of the Jews, at the preaching 
of Joel ; at Nineve, of the Gentiles, at the preaching of 
Jonas J all these .... show that it was no stranger with 
God's people so long as the Law and the Prophets were in 
force." — Bp. Andrews' Serm. 



FASTING. 295 

and Psalms concerning- it, but that it had 
the sanction of Ilini to Whom both the 
Law and the Prophets looked, — our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, AVho fasted for 
forty days and forty ni<2:hts, wliilc lie was 
being tempted of the devib AVe can al- 
lege in its behalf, that, in the text and in 
other passages of the Gospel, lie spake of 
it as of a custom which, at least, had 
within it the elements of usefulness to the 
souls of believers. We can allege in its 
behalf, that it was the constant habit of 
the Apostles and early disciples. We 
read of them approving themselves as 
ministers of God, as in other things, so 
" in fastings f^ St. Paul speaks of him- 
self as "in fastings often."! St. Luke 
tells us that it was while Cornelius,— that 
man of prayer and alms-deeds — was 
*' fasting,"t the angel appeared unto him ; 
and the same sacred writer both mentions 
the fastings of the Church at Antioch,§ 
and alludes in several places to the fast- 
ings which preceded the ordination of 

* 2 Cor. vi. 5. t Actsx. 30. 

t 2 Cor. xi. 27. § Acts xiii. 2 



296 FASTING. 

those who were admitted to the ministry 
of the Church.^ 

Nor did the practice cease with the 
Apostles and their contemporaries. Those 
who are acquainted with Ecclesiastical 
history are well aware that fasting always 
formed a part of the moral disciphne of 
the ancient Church, and that the fasts of 
Lent and Pentecost, and Autumn, and 
Advent, and Epiphany, of the Wednes- 
days and Fridays, and at other seasons, 
were of early appointment, and generally 
received.! 

The practice of our own Church be- 
fore the Reformation, was the same as 
that of Rome, with whom she then held 
comaiunion : nor in consequence of the 
Reformation has she rejected the use of 
fasting. On the contrary, above a fourth 

* Acts xiv. 23. 

t See Bishop Gunning on the Paschal, or Lent Fast, 
passim. Of the language in ^yhich the ancients speak of 
the advantage of fasting, let the following extract given by 
Bp. Gunning suffice. "Est jejunium pax corporis, mem- 
brorum decus, robur mentium, vigor animarum, castitatis 
mums, pudicitiae propugnaculum, civitas sauctitatis, ma- 
gisterii magisterium, disciplinanim disciplina, EcclesiasticaB 
viae viaticum salutare." 

Chrysolog. de. Jejimio. Serm. 8. 



FASTING. 297 

part of the entire year, — the forty days of 
Lent, the Ember days, the Rogation days, 
the Vigils of a considerable luunber of 
Festivals, and all the Fridays in the year, 
except Christmas day, are appointed to 
be kept as fasts, and to be sanctified by 
self denial, and mortification of the flesh. 
And our Church puts no obstacles in the 
way of those who may think it expedi- 
ent to give up a still larger portion of the 
year to fasting in private, in order that 
the flesh being subdued to the spirit, we 
may obey all godly motions, in righteous- 
ness and true holiness. 

It appears then, on the whole, that 
there is abundant warrant for fasting-, 
both from the letter of Holy Scripture, 
from the examples of the Saints in all 
ages, and from the injunctions of our 
own Church : and this will be more than 
sufficient to induce those who desire to 
follow Christ and His servants, in all 
virtuous and godly living, to adopt the 
practice so far as it is in their power to 
do so. For such persons it would be 
enough if we could only show them 
that there was no harm in fasting, and that 



299 FASTING. 

it might by possibility aid them in the 
task of bringing themselves, body and 
soul, into subjection to the law of God : 
for they will gladly avail themselves of 
every help within their reach : but a 
practice which comes recommended to 
them as fasting does, will be received 
with thankfulness, and adopted at once. 

To them, it will be no argument against 
it, to say that the custom has grown obso- 
lete, and that few now-a-days practise it ; 
because in the first place, no earnest- 
minded Christian Avill ever think of tak- 
ing the habits of the world as his rule 
of action ; and secondly, they who fast 
according to the directions given by our 
blessed Lord in the text, will fast in such 
a" secret manner, that hardly anybody 
will know that they are doing so. 

To them, it will be no objection against 
the CListom to know that it is liable to 
abuse ; that some have fasted in order to 
gain applause from men ; that some it 
has led to self-righteousness, and others 
to formalism ; and that some have looked 
on it as an end, rather than as a means 
towards an end. These, the earnest- 



FASTIN(J. 29d 

minded Christian will look on as tlie 
dangers to be avoided : but lie will not 
shun a certain advantage through tear of 
a contingent eviJ. 

The Bible and the Chureh bid liini 
fast, and therefore if he could himself see 
no conceivable good in fasting, he would 
feel himself bound to obey, lie would 
endeavor to ascertain what rules had been 
laid down for his guidance, and having 
ascertained them, he would endeavor to do 
his best to carry them out in his practice. 

And here the question presents itself, 
what rules has our Church prescribed on 
the subject? The answer is, she has 
given us no rules at all. She bids us fast, 
each of us according to our abihty, but 
she does not tell us how to do so. And 
this was a most prudent and thoughtful 
course to pursue towards her children. 

It has been found by experience that 
minute rules and petty distinctions about 
meats and drinks, could never be of uni- 
versal appHcation, and had a great tend- 
ency to foster Pharisaic hypocrisy. IfJ 
w^hen flesh w^as forbidden, a man was to 
be allowed to eat as much as he would 



300 FASTING. 

of fish, or vegetables, what was it but a 
mockery, to say of such a man that he 
fasted ? It was always a temptation to 
adhere to the letter of the rule instead of 
acting in its spirit. Accordingly,while our 
Church enjoins bodily mortification, she 
leaves the manner of it to the conscience 
of each individual. She acts upon the 
same principle as that of her Lord, when, 
in answer to the remarks of His disciples 
on the subject of the expediency or inex- 
pediency of marriage. He rephed, '' All 
men cannot receive this saying, save they 
to whom it is given. . , , He that is able 
to receive it, let him receive it.^^ .... The 
Church well knew that there are those 
who, from natural weakness of constitu- 
tion, are unable to bear a total abstinence 
from food, for any considerable length of 
time ; and others who would injure their 
health by any severity of discipline. 
Therefore she lays down no particular 
directions. As with respect to alms, 
she says, let every man give according to 
his ability, not grudgingly, nor of neces- 
sity, for God loveth a cheerful giver, so 
with regard ^to fasting, she would have 



FASTING. 301 

each individual exercise such an amount 
of self-denial as the strength of his con- 
stitution will admit. It is no act of 
hoUness to injure our health: and on 
the other hand it is no proof of zeal, to 
shrink from even making the experi- 
ment how far we can wean ourselves 
from self-indulgences. There may be 
some who, on a fast-day, could drop one 
meal, or even two, without faintness and 
exhaustion. Others, on the other hand, 
would sutler severely. Let each do ac- 
cording to his ability. He who can ab- 
stain, let him abstain. He who cannot, 
let him contrive to take food of a less 
palatable or of a coarser kind ; or if even 
this is inexpedient, let him use some other 
self denial which his constitution will 
bear ; let him forego some expected plea- 
sure, devote something to God's service 
which he had intended for his own ; let 
him do something, in short, that is dis- 
tasteful to him ; not, of course, as if there 
was any merit in such a proceeding, but 
simply by way of habituating himself to 
self-denial, and mastering his corrupt and 
rebellious will. Fasting, — I cannot re- 



302 FASTING. 

peat it too often, — ^is not an end, but a 
means, and therefore if we are unable to 
avail ourselves of this means we should 
try another. In itself, fasting is nothing ; 
it is only valuable when it helps us to 
root out sin, and anything which con- 
tributes to that design is just as useful as 
fasting. 

" We are wont," wrote St. Chrysostom, 
" to ask one another, how many weeks 
we have fasted during Lent ; and we hear 
some answering two, another three, an- 
other all. But what advantage is it, if 
we have kept the fast and not improved 
our conduct ? If a man tells you, I have 
fasted the whole of Lent, let your answer 
be, I had an enemy and am reconciled 
to him ; I had a habit of revihng, and 
have left it off; I had a custom of swear- 
ing, and this evil propensity is checked. 
It is no use for a merchant to cross the 
seas, unless he returns home, laden Mdth 
goods : nor is there any use in our fast- 
ing, if with the act itself, all further good 
ceases. If our fasting has consisted 
merely in abstaining from meals, when 
Lent has ended, our fast will have passed 



FASTING. 303 

away. But if our fast consists in ab- 
staining from sin, when tlie fast has come 
to an end the benefit will still nMiiain, 
and will lay up for us treasures in the 
heavens."* 

Thus a Father of the Christian Church 
puts fasting upon its true principles, ac- 
cording to the hght which Scripture had 
already thrown upon it. For what saith 
the Spirit, speaking by the mouth of the 
Prophet Isaiah, of tiie dilference between 
a counterfeit fast, and a true one ? 
^* Wherefore have we fasted, say tliey, 
and Thou seest not ? wherefore have we 
afflicted our souls, and Thou takest no 
knowledge ? Behold in the day of your 
fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your 
labors. Behold ye fast, for strife, and de- 
bate, and to smite with the fist of wick- 
edness : ye sh all not fast as ye do tliis 
day, to make your voice to be heard on 
high. Is it such a fast as I have chosen? 
a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it 
to bow down his head as a bulrush, and 
to lay sackcloth and ashes under him ? 

♦ Chrys. in Antioch : Horn: 16. 
14 



304 FASTING. 

wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable 
day to the Lord ? 

Is not this the fast that T have chosen ? 
to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo 
the heavy burdens, and to let the oppress- 
ed go free, and that ye break every yoke. 
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungr}', 
and that thou bring the poor, that are 
cast out, to thy house ? when thou seest 
the naked, that thou cover him, and 
that thou hide not thyself from thine own 
flesh? 

Enough has, 1 trust, been now said to 
satisfy you that while fasting is a duty 
clearly enjoined by the Bible and the 
Church, its acceptableness with God 
wholly depends upon the spirit in which 
it is observed, and the results to which it 
leads. But since, at the present time, 
when so very few are to be found who 
fast at all, or who have any notion of 
obeying the Church with readiness and 
simplicity, there seems less danger of 
Pharisaic hypocrisy existing among us 
in this particular than in many others, 
I will bring my remarks to a conclusion, 
with some general observations on fasting. 



FASTING. 305 

And first, Iwoiikl exhort you to remem- 
ber that fasting is but one j)()int among sev- 
eral which should be attended to in a sea- 
son of humiliation. Its'accompanimcnts 
ought always to be strict self-examina- 
tion, confession of sins, restitution where 
it is possible, prayer, meditation, and alms- 
deeds. If these things go together with 
our fasts, there is httlc danger that our 
bodily mortifications shoidd become a 
snare to us, that we should do them in 
order to attract observation, or put any 
trust in them when done. 

Secondly, with regard to the act itselfj 
it must be regulated according to our abi- 
ht}'-.^ Those who have never fasted 
should not attempt too nuich at first, and 
be specially careful lest their bodily dis- 
comfort should lead to peevishness and 
irritability, or incapacitate them for the 
discharge of their daily course of duty. 
Those, again, who are not strong in health, 
or who are exposed to hard labor, must 

* " The four excusations are either bodily infirmity, or or- 
dinary penury of diet from poverty, or necessity, of greater toil 
and bodily labor, or zeal of some greater good offering itself 
upon dispensing with the fast." 

Bishop Gukning. 



COG FASTING. 

regulate their abstinence accordingly. 
Those who cannot fast at all will contrive 
some other means of mortification. K 
they be in the highest classes of society, 
they will take care that what ought to be 
a time of mourning is not turned by them 
into a time of feasting ; they v,i]l neither 
go to friends' houses for such a purpose, 
nor will they invite friends to their o\vn ; 
they will give largely towards purposes of 
charity ; they will deny themselves as 
much as possible ; they will give them- 
selves up to retirement and prayer. In 
other ranks of life the same kind of sys- 
tem will be pursued. Serv^ants, perhaps, 
will desire of their masters that the weekly 
cost of their maintenance shall be reduced 
during Lent, and the sum so saved ofier- 
ed for some pious object. And so lq all 
other cases. Where there is a will there 
is a way. A\^hoever is in earnest will 
find out some way for himself, and a far 
better way, probably, than others could 
point out to him, of bringing his body 
into subjection, and mortifying his natu- 
ral appetites. 

The main thing for us all to do is to 



FASTING. 307 

keep our eyes fixed on the injunctions 
and practice of our blessed Lord and Ilis 
apostles. " It was the Spirit of God," 
observes an ancient Bishop oi our Church, 
" which led Christ into the wilderness to 
fast there like a hermit : you may well 
know therefore what spirit it is that sets 
any one up to fast like a hypocrite." Our 
Lord's injunction in the text was levelled 
against the h}"pocrisy of the Jewish out- 
ward fasts, and that He might go at once 
to the very root of the evil which renders 
self-denial so necessary tons all, He added, 
*'Lay not up for yourselves treeisures upon 
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 
and thieves break through and steal, but 
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, 
and where thieves do not break through, 
nor steal. For where your treasure is, 
there will your heart be also." 

This is the sum of the whole matter. 
If we are able to fast, we should do so. 
We are exhorted to it by God, and the 
Church : but we must fast to God, not 
to the world ; to our own hearts, not to 



308 FASTING. 

other men's eyes ; to conscience, not to 
form. 

And think not, that if you so fast, you 
will lose your reward. No, you will have 
a witness in your own approving consci- 
ence and a witness in Him, Whose eye 
never slumbers, and Who records the 
feeblest effort made for His Son's sake in 
the path of holiness. 

Deny yourselves, then, to follow Christ; 
let each day have its daily cross, and you 
will learn, ere long, that what now seems 
hardest and bitterest to you, has in it a 
sweetness more exquisite than can be 
found in self indulgence and worldly joy. 
Life will become what it was intended to 
be, a continual preparation for death; and 
temporal self denial, a foretaste of eter- 
nal enjoyment. 

And when the toil and travail of this 
miserable world are ended, you will look 
back on the mortifications, and prayers, 
and tears of your earthly pilgrimage, as 
the means which, under grace, and for 
your Saviour's merits, have borne you 
safe and undismayed to the mansions of 
the Saints in light, — and to the joyous 
Alleluias of your heavenly home ! 



SERMON XVI. 

OF SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS. 

Isaiah xxxii. 20, 
Blessed arc yc that sow besi.le all wafers. 

There seems little doubt that the pro- 
phecy contained in the chapter from 
whence this text is taken, had a primary, 
and secondary fulfilment ; the latter be- 
ing the greater event, since the Messiah 
Himself was connected with it ; while 
the former related only to the temporal 
fortunes of the house of Judah at a 
period but few years subsequently to 
that in which it was dehvered. Thus 
type and antitype meet in the same pre- 
diction. 

The sovereign alluded to, as "the 
King" that should " reign in righteous- 
ness," was Hezekiah.^ If the prophecy 

♦ See Lowth and Pole (iii. 329) in loc, aid also To.vn- 
sGJid's Chroii. Arr. 



310 OF SOWING 

was uttered in the days of Ahab, we may 
read its accomplishment in the early part 
of Hezekiah's reign : but if that monarch 
was actually on the throne, when Isaiah 
published his tidings of future good, then 
we must look, for its accompHshment in 
the period immediately succeeding the 
invasion of the Assyrians, and the slaugh- 
ter of Sennacherib ; when, after " many 
days" of trouble, God's people were per- 
mitted (as it had been foretold they 
should) to " dwell in peaceable habita- 
tions, and in sure dwelhngs, and in quiet 
resting-places;" when "the work of right- 
eousness was peace, and the effect of 
righteousness, quietness and assurance 
for ever :" when the effect (that is, as 
Bishop Lowth explains the passage) of 
God's goodness, and man's reformation, 
should give peace and unanimity at 
home, and freedom and security from 
the invasion of enemies from -without. 

There is, as I have said, no question 
but that the prophecy before us had its 
immediate and primary fulfilment in the 
days of Hezekiah ; but after all 'allow- 
ance made for the uncertainty of inter- 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. 31 i 

pretation,and for a fact which is not with- 
out its weight, namely, that none of the 
writers of the New Testament have ap- 
phed any part of this chapter to our 
Saviour, still it seems impossible not to 
admit that there are portions of the pre- 
diction which relate to happier times 
than Hezekiah ever Hved to enjoy ; and 
that when we read of days in w^hich "the 
Spirit shall be poured from on hi<^h," in 
which '' the eyes of them tliat see shall 
not be dim, and the ears of them that 
hear shall hearken ;" in which " the heart 
also of the rash shall understand know- 
ledge, and the tongue of the stammerers 
shall be ready to speak plainly,"'^ we 
shall surely err through excess of caution, 
if we restrict the w^ords of the Prophet to 
events which took place in Hezekiah's 
reign, and do not allow ourselves to be- 
lieve that the Holy Spirit had a two-fold 
purpose in promulgating this prediction, 
of wdiich the most important was to 
shadow out the glorious increase of grace 
and holiness, which in a latter day should 
be produced under the government of 

* See Isaiah xxxii. 3, 4, 16. 
14* 



313 OF SOWING 

Christ, and the privileges which should 
be then poured forth upon the Church. 

I beheve that it was to this latter dis- 
pensation more especially, indeed I think 
I might say, exclusively, that the words 
which I have chosen for my text allude ; 
and which I shall now endeavor to ex- 
plain to you, in the hope that, by God's 
mercy, they may assist you to the dis- 
charge of a most important Christian 
duty, for which I fear that many persons 
scarcely hold themselves to be respon- 
sible. 

" Blessed," saith the son of Amoz, " are 
ye that sow beside all waters, that send 
forth thither the feet of the ox and the 
ass." 

Blessed (that is, and the prophet seems 
to be drawing a contrast between those 
happy times, and his own), blessed shall 
those spiritual husbandmen be, who, in- 
stead of ministering to a stiff-necked and 
gainsaying people, wasting their strength 
in a barren and a weary land, where no 
water is, shall sow their precious seed in 
a soil duly prepared for its reception, 
wherever there is moisture to promote 



besidl: all watlrs. 3iU 

its growth, and wlicrevor a river can be 
found to irri<^ato and fertilize the huuls 
through which it llow^;. Thither shall 
these husbandmen resort, there shall they 
plough the soil as best they can ; — the 
ass and the ox (lutherto forbidden by 
Moses' law to be yoked together^) shall 
be united in one toil ; distinction shall no 
longer be made between Jew and Gen- 
tile ; what God hath cleansed shall no 
longer be called common; the Church 
Catholic shall comprise all ; all who will, 
shall be led in green pastures beside the 
waters of comfort. 

There is a parable you see, here, as 
well as a prophecy. 

Now the parable is this. The seed is 
the Word of God. They who are said 
to be blessed are those who having valu- 
ed that AVord themselves above gold, yea, 
above much fine gold, dcvsire to make 
others appreciate it likewise, and avail 
themselves of the privileges within their 
reach. And the land "beside all waters," 
in which it is to be sown, is the hearts of 

* Deut. xxii. 10. 



314 OF SOWING 

all who receive it, and suffer it to take 
root within them. 

In a few words, therefore, we may state 
the Prophet's meaning to be this ; that 
every one who endeavors to co-operate 
(if I may so speak) with the Holy Ghost, 
in inducing those who are within the 
sphere of His influence to become faith- 
ful followers of Christ, shall receive a 
special blessing.^ 

Here then, brethren, are the questions 
which I would have each of you very 
solemnly put to yourselves ; How far 
have any of you desired to obtain this 
blessing ? What steps have you hitherto 
taken to secure it ? 

Knowing as we all must, both ivhat we 
are, and whei'e we are, — that we are weak 
and frail, and fallen creatures, living in 
an evil world, where everything from 
within, and from without, is continually 
tempting us to our ruin, it might have 
been expected that for our own sake, and 
for our brethren's sake, our lives would 

* " Felices sunt Evangelii ministri, qui omnes nulloneque 
docentium, neque docendorum, gcniis discrimine decent." 

Castalio in Pole 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. [ilO 

be spent in mutiuilly a8:sistin<^each other, 
in mutual warnings and eneourageniejits, 
and in striving to attract all, over Avhoni 
we have any inliuence, to come and 
tread that narrow heavenward i)ath, in 
which our daily prayer is, to be preserved 
ourselves. 

But is this the case ? is this the gene- 
ral way ^vith mankind ? does our experi- 
ence give us any such favorable view 
of human nature, of our mutual sym- 
pathy for each other, of our mutual in- 
terest in each other's welfare, as to justify 
us in the conclusion, that the spiritual 
good of our fellow creatures is at all a 
matter of deep and absorbing interest 
to us ? 

God who seeth and knoweth all things, 
knows our hearts better than we do our- 
selves, and when He thought it needful 
to proclaim that He had a blessing in 
store for them '' that sow beside all wa- 
ters ;'' for those who should exert them- 
selves to bring their fellow creatures to a 
knoAvledge and a practice of the truth ; 
He knew what was in man, and that 
selfishness (by which I mean, that un- 



31 § OF SOWING 

holy self-love, which the New Testament 
speaks of as opposed to the love of God) 
was the strongest feature in his character. 
Do I seem to speak harshly? The 
matter is one which we may soon put to 
the test. Among us all here present, is 
there one who will undertake to say, 
that, even within the narrow limits of 
his own family and kindred, it is his con- 
stant endeavor to make God's way better 
known, and His will better obeyed ? Can 
a man, for instance, say that he does, 
who, with respect to his own children, is 
more eager to help them on in the world, 
than to make them brave and steadfast 
soldiers of Christ crucified, who, though 
in the world, are not of it? — Can any 
man say that he does, who, when he sees 
a kinsman or a friend habitually sinning 
against God, or leading a careless life 
without thought of, or care for religion, 
hesitates through false delicacy, or false 
shame, or from the fear of giving pain, to 
warn him of his danger? Can any one 
say that he does, who is not systemati- 
cally framing his own fife and conversa- 
tion in such a manner as to adorn the 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. :j 1 7 

doctrine of God our vSaviour, in all tliin<j;s ; 
to let his lij^ht shine before men, to <i;'ivq 
no offence in anythin*:^, to throw no 
stumbhng-block in a weaker brother's 
path, to set no doubtful examj)le for the 
young, to put no dangerous temptation 
before the inexperienced ; but, on the 
contrary, to make religion appear so lovely 
in the eyes of men, her Avays so full of 
pleasantness, and her paths of peace, as 
to win them towards that, from which 
their natural impulse is to flee ? 

Alas, my brethren, I fear that when 
we come to examine ourselves fairly in 
these particulars, few among us will be 
found who can avouch for themselves, 
that, so far as human infirmity will per- 
mit, they are uniformly striving to make 
even those who are nearest and dearest 
to them, and to whom they are bound 
by the closest ties of blood and affection, 
such as, in their hearts, they know God 
would have them to be, such as the voice 
of conscience tells them thei/ might con- 
tribute to make them. But how limited 
and contracted a view of our duties would 
this be, even if we reaUzed it, and carried 



318 OF SOWING 

it out in our practice ! The text gives us 
another measure by which we may learn 
our responsibilities. We are there taught 
that if we would receive a blessing from 
the Lord, and righteousness from the 
God of our salvation, we must " Sow be- 
side a// waters ;" not merely on the banks 
of this favored stream, which we hallow 
with the associations of childhood, or be- 
side the margin of that glassy lake, on 
which we have seen the sunshine glitter- 
ing, in our happiest hours ; but we must 
"sow beside a// waters," the wild and the 
headlong cataract, the dark and stagnant 
pool, as well as beside the clear and 
sparkling watercourses which our fancy 
loves. How little soever may be the in- 
terest we feel in the region around us, 
how unpromising soever may be the as- 
pect of the sky above us, how parched 
and arid, bleak and desolate, or rank and 
choked up with weeds, may be the as- 
pect of the soil, we must remember that 
our part is to follow the example of Him 
who causeth His sun to shine on the evil 
and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust. We must 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. 319 

be husbandmen diligent and wise ; we 
must put our hands to the plough, and 
then sow the good seed, leaving it to 
Him to give the precious fruits of in- 
crease, at Wliose AA'ord ''the earth bring- 
eth forth fruit of herself; hrst the blade, 
then the ear, after that the full corn in 
the ear ;" and Who, " when the fruit is 
brought forth, immediately putteth in the 
sickle, because the harvest is come." 

But what is the seed which we are to 
sow ? It is to be the implanting of faith, 
of Christian principle, of godly fear in 
our fellow Christians' hearts. It is to be 
the "word in season," ''the cup of cold 
water" given for Christ's sake, "the soft 
answer" that turneth away wrath, the 
friendly warning, the affectionate expos- 
tulation, the honest, yet humble, expres- 
sion of opinion, the cheerful encourage- 
ment ; all these are various kinds of good 
seed. The good seed is sown when we 
"hold up the weak, heal the sick, bind 
up the broken, bring again the outcasts, 
seek the lost :" but, beheve me, my breth- 
ren, the best and most fruitful seed of all 
is, the quiet, consistent example of a holy 



820 OF SOWING 

life; faith that worketh by love, — faith 
unfeigned, and that love which is the ful- 
filling of the law. 

Here, then, is seed which all may sow; 
here is seed which they who love God 
will sow " beside all waters." Young or 
old, rich or poor, all may sow good seed. 
Wherever you are, whatever may be your 
calling, there is still a field before you into 
which you may cast the precious grain. 
In your families or in the world, among 
strangers or friends, amid your most ac- 
tive occupations as well as in the seasons 
of leisure, you have, each of you, in liis 
own sphere and capacity, the opportunity 
of setting that in the soil which may here- 
after take root and flourish, to the end- 
less benefit of yourself and others. Each, 
in his respective walk, may leave behind 
him the trace of a good example, for the 
guidance, and comfort, and encourage* 
ment of his brethren. 

I know it may be said that the attempt 
to do good universally, to bring all our 
friends, acquaintance, and dependents to 
obedience to the laws of the Gospel, is 
a disheartening, a tliankless, a hopeless 



BESIDE ALL WATLllS. 321 

task. But what then ? Granting the as- 
sertion to be true, which, of course, I do 
not, ought the difficulty or even irnprac- 
ticabiUty of what he attempts to be an 
hindrance to one who has faith in Christ, 
and in the strengthening grace of Ills 
Spirit? Surely no. 

The fact is, that if the undertaking 
seem disheartening, that is your own 
fauh : but thankless it is not ; hopeless it 
is not. It is not, cannot be thankless to 
those who have faith in the promise, 
'• Cast thy bread upon the waters, and 
thou shalt find it after many days." Dis- 
couragement is a trial, and ingratitude is 
a trial, but who are we that we should 
expect to escape trial ? '' Behold the hus- 
bandman waiteth for the precious fruit of 
the earth, and hath long patience for it, 
until he receive the early and latter rain. 
Be ye also patient." The good seed you 
have sown may long lie dormant, but 
who can say that when the favorable op- 
portunity ariseth it will not revive and 
grow, and bring forth precious increase ? 
The working of the leaven may not be 
seen at once, but who, on that account, 



322 OF SOWING 

will venture to deny that when it has 
been fairly mingled with the mass, the 
whole shall not be leavened ? 

And as for those who would speak of 
the task as hopeless, all I can say is that 
" hopeless " is a term which the Christian 
will never apply to his Christian exer- 
tions. He must hope against hope ; and, 
as I have already said, weak indeed must 
be his faith, if he cannot support himself 
under the recollection, that amid the dis- 
appointments of this nature, he is but 
bearing a portion of his Master's cross, 
and that, at any rate, he is working both 
for, and with the Holy spirit of God. 

If, however, you tell me that you find 
the attempt to recall the sinner from the 
error of his ways is a disheartening task, 
then I must assure you, that that very 
fact, shows that you are working alto- 
gether upon a wrong principle. If you 
are laboring to promote the good of others, 
and expecting the reward of pleasurable 
feehngs and gratifying emotions from the 
success of your labors, — painting vision- 
ary scenes of earthly bliss and conscious 
satisfaction in the success of pious exer- 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. 323 

tions, then I tell you at once that you are 
laying your foundations in tlir sand, en- 
couraging hopes that never can be real- 
ized while human nature continues what 
it is, and that your exertions ^y\\\ begin, 
continue, and end in disappointment. If 
you would really promote the cause of 
religion among your fellow creatures, you 
must follow the system (if I may so ven- 
ture to express myself) adopted, and be 
content with the treatment received by 
your Saviour. You will pray, and la- 
bor, and exert yourself in behalf of others, 
without being sanguine as to any imme- 
diate and visible result of your labors, 
your exertions, or your prayers. You 
will not "seek great things"^ for your- 
self: you Avill be content if you can turn 
one sinner from the error of his way. 
For, as I have already asked, Whose dis- 
ciples are you? Is it not enough that 
the disciple should be as his Master, and 
the servant as Ids Lord ? What can be 
the amount of your weariness and pain- 
fulness, of your sorrows and disappoint- 
ments, when compared with His ? Why 

* Jeremiah xxv. 5. 



324 OF SOWING 

are you to expect thanks and gratitude 
■when so little awaited Him ? 

"If ye love them which love you, 
what thank have ye ? do not even the 
publicans the same ? If ye do good to 
them which do good to you, what thank 
have ye ? do not even the publicans the 
same ? And if ye lend to them of whom 
ye hope to receive, what thank have ye ? 
for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive 
as much again." But, my brethren, this 
is thankworthy, to love, and do good, 
and lend, hoping for nothing again : " and 
your reward shall be great, and ye shall 
be the children of the Highest, for He is 
kind to the unthankful and the evil." 

No ; the course for us to pursue is to 
go on steadily, quietly, consistently, ex- 
erting ourselves in the cause of Christ 
and His Gospel, sowing the good seed 
beside all waters, not devoting ourselves 
to one, and forgetting another, but mak- 
ing ourselves, so far as we can, generally 
useful to all, trying to lead ally whom we 
can influence, with us in the path to 
heaven, and encouraging them in the 
words of Moses to the Midianite of old : 



BESIDE ALL WATERS. 325 

" We are journeying to the land of which 
the Lord hath said I will give it you ; covie 
thou ivith vs, and we tvill do thee <roodr 

Our duty is to labor, each in our sev- 
eral stations, to promote the spiritual wel- 
flire of all whom we can reach w^hether 
by word or good example. Much, my 
brethren, to encourage you, much to de- 
light you, much that Avill be gratilying to 
your feehngs, you will undoubtedly meet 
with. And you need neither be insensi- 
ble to such returns, nor unthankful for 
them , but they are not the things, the hope 
of which must incite you to exertion. 

What you do must be done for Chnsfs 
sake ; because you love Him ; because 
you love His httle ones, and " His breth- 
ren that are in the world ;" because you 
desire to be like Him, and to follow His 
steps ; because from Him, and Him only, 
you look for your reAvard. 

This must be your motive, your princi- 
ple of action. In this, amid disappoint- 
ments, you shall find support and encou- 
ragement ; in this you shall assuredly 
find hereafter, your eternal recompense 
of glor}^ 



326 OF SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS. 

Bliss more perfect than tongue can tell, 
or heart conceive, shall be the portion of 
those for whom even the lowest place in 
heaven is prepared : but if, as we stand 
before the throne of God, redeemed our- 
selves, and absorbed in the reahty of our 
own happiness, and the mercies of a 
Saviour's love, — if, I say, that joy can re- 
ceive an addition which will overwhelm 
us with its fulness ; — yea, if, in our un- 
fading croAvn of glory, one more jewel 
may be yet inserted, which shall increase 
its bhnding lustre, and enhance its ines- 
timable value, that addition to our joy 
shall be to find the seed we have sown 
beside all waters, ripened for an harvest, 
whose fruit, — ''good measure, pressed 
down, and shaken together, and running 
over" is now returned into our own bo- 
soms ; — that jewel in our crown shall be 
the knowledge that many, yea, that one 
immortal soul, aye, of the poorest, the 
weakest, the most ignorant of mankind, 
has been brought, through our instrumen- 
tality, to the Cross of Christ, and that we 
with him, and he with us, are now secure 
for ever amid the joys of our Lord. 



SERMON XVII. 

THE PROMISES AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO 
EXERTION. 

[a sermon roil ALL saints' day.] 

Luke, xiv. 22. 
And yet there is rcom. 

^' A CERTAIN man," said our blessed Lord, 
in reply to one who had expressed his 
sense of the blessedness of those to whom 
it should be given to eat bread in the 
kingdom of God, — " A certain man made 
a great supper, and bade many : and sent 
his servant at supper time to say to them 
that were bidden, Come ; for all things 
are now ready. And they ail with one 
consent began to make excuse. The first 
said unto him, I have bought a piece of 
ground, and I must needs go and see it : 
I pray thee have me excused. And an- 
other said, I have bought five yoke of 
oxen, and I go to prove them : I pray 

15 



828 THE PROMISES AN 

thee have me excused. And another said, 
I have married a wife, and, therefore, I 
cannot come. So that servant came, and 
showed his Lord these things. Then the 
master of the house being angry said to 
his servant, Go out quickly into the streets 
and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the 
poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and 
the blind. And the servant said. Lord, 
it is done as thou hast commanded, and 
yet there is room. And the Lord said 
unto the servant, Go out into the high- 
ways and hedges, and compel them to 
come in that my house may be filled. 
For I say unto you that none of those 
men which were bidden shall taste of my 
supper." 

It can be scarcely needful, my brethren, 
for me to remind you that this parable 
was addressed originally to the Jews, and 
had its primary reference to their reception 
of God's proffered mercies in Christ Jesus. 
They had been first invited as the most 
favored guests to the "great supper." 
The lost sheep of the house of Israel were 
first called into the fold. To them the 
Gospel was first preached. 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 329 

But they refused the ^^racious invita- 
tion: they would not be conviuced m spite 
of the clearest evidence that God could 
give or man receive, that the Lord Jesus 
was He to whom all the prophets gave 
witness; their pride and their prejudices 
forbade them to acknowledge Him to be 
the Messiah, Who confessed unhesitat- 
ingly that His kingdom was not of this 
world ; they shut their ears against the 
" glad tidings of great joy ;" they evil- 
intreatedthe messengers; yea, they cruci- 
fied the Iving's Son, — the Eternal Son of 
God. 

And so in due time, the punishment 
threatened in the parable, came upon 
them. Not one of those who were bidden 
and still refused to come, were .made in- 
voluntary partakers of the privileges of 
the Gospel. In the path they had chosen 
they were allowed to walk ; in the choice 
they had made they were permitted to 
abide. They were left to themselves to 
receive the recompense that was meet, 
namely, that they should eat the fruit of 
their own devices. In a few years after 
they had filled up the measure of their 



330 THE PROMISES AN 

iniquities, by rejecting and crucifying the 
Redeemer, those dreadful judgments of 
God, long foretold, all came to pass : their 
house was left unto them desolate ; their 
beloved Zion, the city of David, was mise- 
rably overthrown by the Roman armies ; 
myriads of their people were destroyed 
by famine and sword ; myriads were led 
away captive, their place and name as a 
nation were known no more ; and they 
accomplished the predictions which they 
had disbelieved, by becomimg " an as- 
tonishment, a proverb, and a by-word 
among all nations whither the Lord" hath 
" led them." 

To the Jews, then, primarily, was the 
parable spoken ; but it was not spoken 
to them alone. Like all other similar 
discourses of our gracious ^ Lord, it was 
so framed as to convey its admonitions to 
the Church in all ages, and but Uttle ob- 
servation is required to detect beneath its 
surface much v/hich is full of reproofj of 
correction, of instruction in righteousness 
to us, upon whom the ends of the world 
are come. 

To us, sinners of the Gentiles, admitted 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. IJGi 

by God's free ^race into the Church's fold, 
belongs the application of the parable in 
its spiritual, as to the chosen people of Is- 
rael of old, in its literal sense. We are 
they, — th« poor, the maimed, the halt and 
the blind, the dwellers under hedges, and 
by the highway side, — who were called 
to the supper, when the first invited guests 
had excused themselves. 

Let us then attend to this application of 
the parable reverently, and study those 
parts of it which more immediately con- 
cern ourselves. 

He who makes the great supper, and 
bids many, is Christ our Lord. By the 
supper is meant that Gospel kingdom 
into wliich we were all called and ad- 
mitted, when by Holy Baptism we were 
made partakers of its present privileges, 
were allowed to appropriate to ourselves 
its gracious promises, and admitted to the 
hope of its glorious rewards. Those who 
are sent to invite us to this heavenly feast, 
to call us to repentance, faith, and salva- 
tion, are the successors of the Apostles, 
the ministers of the Church CathoUc, 
and all other means, which God of His 



332 THE PROMISES AN 

great mercy uses to bring us to Himself. 
The excuses sent by those who are 
thus invited, are still the sam.e which the 
Jews alleged, to wit, the business, and the 
cares, and the pleasures, and the alluring 
sins of this present evil world. 

Day by day, in each successive age, 
since the parable was first spoken, God 
has been sending out His servants every- 
where, to invite new guests to the Gospel 
feast. Multitudes which no man could 
number, have been regaled by it, and 
nourished up to everlasting life thereby ; 
^' and yet there is room," — ample room for 
more at the same board. All that hunger 
may come, and that thirst, may come, 
and both shall be satisfied. The hungry 
shall be filled with good things, and even 
the rich shall not be sent empty away. 

Still the invitation goes forth, "Ho, every 
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters !" 
And, " let him that is athirst come. And 
whosoever will, let him take the water of 
life freely !" Still are the servants of the 
Most High, sent into all the world, to call 
mankind to avail themselves of the bless- 
ings placed within their reach. May 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 333 

we at least, my brethren, not receive the 
grace of God in vain ! May we not turn 
our backs upon the feast which He has 
so graciously spread for us ! May we not 
perish, as multitudes before us have done, 
by making light of that which, when once 
lost, is irrecoverable ! 

"And yet there is room," — Heaven, 
then, for Christ's sake, and through His 
merits, is accessible to all ! " Him that 
Cometh unto me," saith He, *' I will in 
no wise cast out." He rejects none who 
truly turn to Him with honesty and sin- 
cerity of purpose, but has compassion on 
their manifold infirmities, strengthens 
them in their weakness, and intercedes 
with the Father for them all. He died 
for our sins, rose again for our justification, 
and ascended up on high to be our advo- 
cate. By virtue of his meritorious sacri- 
fice. He not only made atonement for our 
sins, reconciling us to His Father, that 
He may love us as He loveth Him ; but 
He has likewise prayed the Father to 
keep us in His name, to keep us from the 
evil, even as we have vowed to renounce 
it ; to sanctify and make us holy, even as 



334 THE PROMISES AN 

by oiir privileges we are engaged to be- 
come so ; that thus we may become 
perfect in one. as He and the Fath- 
er are : and so may be hke unto God 
(who have ahready been made His child- 
ren), partakers of the Divine nature while 
we are upon earth, and aften;\-ard par- 
takers of the marriage-supper of the Lamb 
in heaven, where yet " there is room" for 
us all. " In my Father s House." saith 
He, '' are many mansions ; if it were not 
so. I would have told you ; I go to pre- 
pare a place for you. And if I go and 
prepare a place for you. I vnR come again 
and receive you unto Myself, that where 
I am. there ye may be also." 

O glorious and gracious promise I O 
blessed place I what a miserable thing it 
is that we cannot realize both the one 
and the other better than we do I that 
we cannot close our eyes and ears, and 
shut the avenues of our hearts, and be- 
come so wholly spiritual as to form some 
notion of the deep, unutterable blLss of a 
portion in God's presence I How poor, 
and cold, and dead are our piurest and 
best imaginations respecting it I And all- 
imperfect and unsatisfying as they are, 



ENCOURAGEMEXT TO EXERTION. 335 

who can but long to be there, where we 
shall have parted from tliis miserable 
and naught}- world, and all our defile- 
ments, tlirough the lusts of the flesh and 
the wiles of Satan, shall be purged and 
done away : and our earthl}' house of 
this tabernacle shall be dissolved, and we 
shall be clothed upon, and moilality be 
swallowed up of hfe ; and the world, th:: 
devil, and the flesh shall find no place 
there ; we shall be no longer led into 
temptation, shall be deUvered from ever}'' 
evil, and the fear of falhng shall exist no 
longer; we shall be free from all man- 
ner of sin, and, by consequence, from all 
manner of sufiering. God will never be 
offended, and we shall never be afflicted 
any more ; all tears shall be wiped from 
off all faces, and there shall be no more 
death, nor sorrow, nor crying. 

But who are we, my brethren, that we 
should venture to hope for such tilings ? 
And if the righteous scared}- be saved, 
what hope is there for us ? For what 
are we compared with the Samts of old ? 
— (those, to whose memor}- this day's fes- 
tivcd is consecrated, and for the light of 



336 THE PROMISES AN 

whose example we are now blessing 
God !) Can we hope for admission into 
their inheritance, weighed down as we 
are, by the grievous burden of our sins ? 
— Blessed be God, there is room for us, 
though the passage thereunto be too nar- 
row for us, together with our sins, to enter 
in! No: our sins must be left behind. 
They must be laid at the foot of the 
Cross : and then the good Shepherd will 
own us as His sheep, will call us by our 
names, and admit us into His fold. 

But is there this hope for all? are all 
allowed to run in the race ? are all per- 
mitted to strive for admission? For 
heaven must needs be a large place, that 
can hold such a multitude of inhabitants 
as are aheady there. Daniel saw thou- 
sands upon thousands of happy spirits 
ministering unto God, and ten thousand 
times ten thousand standing before Him. 
Angels of every grade. Cherubim and 
Seraphim, Thrones and Dominions, Prin- 
cipalities and Powers, — multitudes which 
no man could number, the ancient in- 
habitants of that blessed place, — pure, 
and sinless, and undeiiled, are ranged 



ENC0L7RAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 337 

around the footstool of the Eternal, "and 
3^et there is room." 

The glorious company of the Apostles, 
the goodh^ fellowship of the Prophets, the 
noble army of Martyrs, will doubtless 
have their portion there, praising God 
eternally, casting down their crowns of 
gold, amid the sea of glass and the rain- 
bow-throne : but heaven hath many man- 
sions ; there yet is room. 

The Patriarchs and Worthies of the 
elder covenant, " who died in faith, not 
having received the promises, but having 
seen them afar off and who, being per- 
suaded of them, embraced them," and 
confessed that they were strangers and 
pilgrims upon earth ; — righteous Abel, 
and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and 
Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses ; Gideon, 
and Barak, and Sampson, and Jephthah ; 
David also, and Samuel and the Prophets, 
— the cloud of witnesses, in short, that 
compass us about, — these will ultimately 
have their resting-place in that " better 
countr}^," "the heavenly," which on earth 
they so diligently sought ; — even in the 
City which hath foundations; whose 



338 THE PROMISES AN 

Builder and Maker is God. But we 
need not fear exclusion, for He that over- 
came the sharpness of death hath opened 
the kingdom of heaven to all behevers. — 
'' And yet there is room." 

There too shall be assembled that 
mighty multitude of whom the beloved 
disciple speaks in the visions of the Apo- 
calypse, who, clothed in white robes, 
with palms in their hands, give honor to 
God and the Lamb. — And we may be 
among them, for '• yet there is room." 

The faithful dead of every age and 
clime, those pious followers of a crucifi- 
ed Redeemer, "of whom the world was 
not worthy," — who, in their measure, like 
Him have borne then cross, — have fought 
the good fight of Faith, and have come, 
perhaps, out of great tribulation, or been 
" destitute, afflicted, tormented," will all 
be there, for God hath given them the 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
His they were in time, members of His 
One Body, sanctified by His One Spirit, 
and His they will be in eternity, washed 
from their sins with His blood, and 
clothed in robes pure and white which 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 339 

He shall give them. In number they 
may be numberless, muhitudinous as the 
stars of heaven, or the sand upon the 
sea's broad shore, but God's own AA^ord 
assures us that the golden streets of the 
heavenly Jerusalem are a thoroughfare 
which is never closed ; and its gates of 
pearl " shall not be shut at all by day ; 
and there shall be no night there ;" that 
whole '' nations of them that be saved 
shall walk in the light of it;" but that 
yet '• there is room." 

Room for the poor in spirit, for their's 
is the kingdom of heaven. 

Room for those that mourn, for there 
they shall be comforted. 

Room for those that hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, for tltere they shall be 
filled. 

Room for the merciful, for there they 
shall obtain mercy ; — for the peace-mak- 
ers, for the meek, for the pure in heart, 
for there they shall see God. 

Room for the weary, and the heavy 
laden, for there they shall have rest. 

Room for all, who, walking in the 
steps of Christ, our Saviour, shall crucify 
the flesh, with its affections and its lusts. 



340 THE PROMISES AN 

Seeing then, brethren, that such pro- 
mises as these have been made to us by 
Him, Whose name is Faithfulness and 
Truth, with what motives to unwear\4ng 
exertions are we supphed ! In what un- 
ceasing prayer, and constant persever- 
ance, and unshrinking self-denial, should 
we pass our days, mortifying, and kiUing 
all vices in us ; that so by the aid of that 
Holy Spirit, Who dwelleth in us, we may 
be made meet for admission into that 
blessed place ! How diligently, and heart- 
ily should we implore Him, to prosper 
the growth of that heavenly seed, which 
He sowed in our hearts at Holy Bap- 
tism, — and to give us precious increase, 
that so we may have abundant "fruit unto 
holiness, and the end everlasting life." 

And while we thus seek strength and 
assistance from on high, as knowing that 
without that aid, our own efforts >;\dll end 
in nothing but shame and disappoint- 
ment, how zealous, and watchful, and 
pains-taking, and devoted, should we be, 
*' lest a promise being left us of entering 
into rest," any of us should, in the end, 
come short of it. 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 311 

To those among my hearers (and I 
confidently hope there are many such), 
who are honestly desiring and striving to 
lead the life of Sahits, — but who, never- 
theless, are subject (as all must be, on 
this side the grave) to the danger of fall- 
ing, — to such persons, can there be a 
stronger incitement to cheerful and un- 
tiring exertion, or a higher source of sup- 
port and consolation, amid the fatigues 
of their pilgrimage, and the perils of 
their warfare, than the remembrance that 
there is " an inheritance incorruptible, 
undefiled, and that fadeth not away," re- 
served in heaven for them, in those man- 
sions, where they shall see their Redeem- 
er face to face, and know even as they 
are known? 

Again. Are there any now present, 
who are leading careless hves, with their 
lamps untrimmed, and their loins un- 
girded ; — living, in short, " without God 
in the world ;" for this world, and not 
for God ; content to dwell in it for ever, 
and with no aspirations after things un- 
seen ; slothful, self-indulgent, without in- 



842 THE PROMISES AN 

ward principle, and so letting things take 
their chance, and influenced only by ac- 
cident, or fashion ? Then let me beseech 
them to remember, that although as yet, 
*' there is room," they have need to take 
heed betimes, while the day of salvation 
lasteth, for the night cometh, when no 
man can work " Then shall it be too 
late to knock, when the door shall be 
shut, and too late to cry for mercy, when 
it is the time of justice." 

Lastly : are there any, who know that 
they have wilfully grieved the Holy Spirit, 
by a deJiberate breaking of their Baptis- 
mal vows, and a deUberate surrender of 
themselves to Satan, the world, and the 
flesh ; and who now feel the miquities of 
their past lives with an overwhelming 
and almost despairing sense of their deep 
guiltmess, — some weary and heav}^ laden 
soul, perhaps, that scarce dares to hope 
for pardon, nor even to " lift up his eyes 
unto the hills, from whence cometh his 
help," — who is at length conscious of 
his responsibihties and his omissions, and 
who would now turn and seek for refuge, 
where alone is the hope of pardon; — 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 3 43 

then, to such an one am I bound to oli'cr 
the consolhi^ reflection, that to him, and 
to such as he, is the word ol' this salva- 
tion sent. The poor, the maimed, the 
hah, and the bluid of the parable, — they 
who had been worsted by the adversary, 
were compelled, with gentle importunity, 
to fill the vacant places at the rich man's 
board. And even thus it is that Christ 
our Lord, the seeker of the wanderers 
and the Saviour of the lost, invites the 
returning siAners. Your present sorrow 
for the past is a proof that He has not 
cast you off for ever ; and though, in con- 
sequence of your grievous fall, it be- 
hooves you to go mourning all your life 
long, still there is no cause for faithless 
despondency. His word is sure ; His 
promises fail not. His blood cleanseth 
from cdl sin which is repented of and for- 
saken. It will cleanse your sins as well 
as others'. Follow, obey, and hope in 
Him, and he will not exclude you from 
that heaven, the gates of which, when 
He had overcome the sharpness of death, 
He opened to all believers. Press on 
hopefully, for as yet there is room. Press 



344 ENCOURAGEMENT TO EXERTION. 

on in faith, nothing wavering ; in conti- 
nual penitence and humiliation, in prayer 
and watchfulness, in charity and every 
other good Avork. 

Let the errors of your life past form the 
subject of a daily sorrow, working in you 
a repentance not to be repented of And 
then, though, through the guilt of former 
transgressions, tliis world can never be 
otherwise than a vale of tears to you, 
though now you must needs go weeping 
along your way, bearing ^fch precious 
seed, you doubtless shall come again with 
joy bringing your sheaves with you. You 
shall stand in your lot at the end of days, 
with others, who, like yourselves, have 
come out of great tribulation, redeemed 
by Him Wlio is the Church's Dehverer 
from death and the grave ; Who poured 
forth His blood like water to save you 
from the one, and has made the other 
the portal to the inheritance of the Saints 
in hght. 



SERMON XVIIT. 

OF DYING DAILY. 

1 Corinthians xv. 31. 
I die daily. 

The doctrine set forth in these few words 
seems to be tliis, that Ave must die while 
we Uve, in order that we may hve when 
we die ; that our whole life must be a 
kind of rehearsal of that which is insepa- 
rably connected with the dissolution of 
the body, a surrender of earthly interests, 
hopes, affections, passions, pursuits, and 
an entire indifference to those things 
which alone, in the opinion of the world, 
make life worth ha\4ng ; that our course 
of existence must be a t\'pe or shadow- 
ing forth of the agony of a d}ing bed, in 
so far as that is (or ought to be) accom- 
panied by a patient endurance of suffer- 
ing, a cheerful resignation to God, a trust- 



846 DYING DAILY. 

ful submission to His will, a steadfast 
faith in His mercies through Christ, a 
thankful receiving of His fatherly chas- 
tisement, an unmurmuring spirit under 
the prospect of separation and bereave- 
ment, an earnest longing after the invisi- 
ble world, an eager desire to see Him 
that is invisible, a looking for the resur- 
rection of the dead, and the life of the 
world to come ; that we must habitually 
consider ourselves as mere strangers in 
this world, who are on pilgrimage to an- 
other ; and that so far from being dissatis- 
fied with our condition, or allowing our- 
selves to be ungrateful, and to think it 
gloomy, and a hardship that our hfe is, 
in some sort, the protracted struggle of a 
living death, we must " count it all joy 
when we fall into temptation," and we 
must " glory in tribulations ;" as know- 
ing that " tribulation worketh patience ; 
and patience, experience; and experi- 
ence, hope :" yea, we must be glad to 
lose all things and suffer all things, if 
only we may " win Christ and be found 
in Him," if we may but " know Him, 
and the power of His resurrection, and 



DYING DAILY. 347 

the fellowship of his safTerings, being 
made conformable to His death; if by 
any means" we "might attain unto the 
resurrection of the dead." 

It cannot fail to be in the remembrance 
of all, that the text forms part of St. Paul's 
exposition of the doctrine of the resur- 
rection, — that most awful yet consohitory 
portion of Scripture which the Church 
has selected as the lesson for the burial- 
servdce, and on the strength of which she 
bids our mourners commit their departed 
friends to the ground " in sure and cer- 
tain hope of the resurrection to eternal 
life, through our Lord Jesus Christ ; who 
shall change our vile body that it may be 
hke unto His glorious body, according to 
the mighty working whereby He is able 
to subdue all things to Himself" 

Into the general scope and bearing of 
the Apostle's arguments in favor of the 
doctrine he was inculcating, it is unne- 
cessary that I should enter at present, 
as its connection with the subject upon 
which I intend to address you is not im- 
m.ediate. It may be sufficient, therefore, 
to mention that the text forms part of 



348 DYING DAILY. 

one of those reasons which he alleges in 
confirmation of the truth of the doctrine 
of the resurrection, and his own belief in 
it. Ifj he argnes, we Christians did not 
unhesitatingly beheve that we should rise 
again after death, why should we lead 
such lives as we do ? why submit our- 
selves to everything which can make life 
most miserable ? Why continue we thus 
to chase a mere delusion ? why thus sub- 
mit to persecution and tribulation hourly, 
yet without an object? I declare by 
those hopes which I have in Him Whose 
servant I profess myself, my daily afflic- 
tions which I suffer for the Gospel are 
equal in their agony to death itself '' I 
protest by your rejoicing which I have 
in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily." 

So the Apostle testifies of himself, and 
so in his second epistle he speaks of his 
condition more fully. " We are troubled 
on every side, yet not distressed ; we are 
perplexed, but not in despair ; persecut- 
ed, but not forsaken ; cast down, but not 
destroyed ; always bearing about in the 
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that 



DYING DAILY. 349 

the life also of Jesus might be made 
manifest in our body." 

Here then, brethren, is the rule for us 
to follow. Our mortal life must be a 
daily death, in conformity with the suf- 
ferings of Christ. For His sake Ave shall 
be content to " be killed all the day long." 
With Him, and for Him, we shall gladly 
suffer, that so in the end we may reign 
with Him. 

Perhaps, nay, I should say, most pro- 
bably, to some who hear me, this descrip- 
tion of the Christian's life on earth may 
seem unpalatable, forbidding, repulsive. 
And yet, I think, if you will search the 
Scriptures fairly and candidly you will 
find that I have spoken truth. We shall 
there see ourselves spoken of as being 
in possession of many privileges, bless- 
ings, and mercies : these we are allowed, 
nay, enjoined to use with thanldulness. 
And more than this, we are encouraged 
to " rejoice evermore," and to '' be of good 
comfort;" and yet, on the whole, the 
Christian life is represented to us as one 
of sternness and severity, such as may 
be best described by a " dying daily." 



350 DYING DAILY. 

Is this an offence to you ? is it a stum- 
bling-block in your path and a discou- 
ragement to you? do you feel deterred, 
and inclined to make no further advance 
in a religion which seems to exact such 
hard service from you ? Remember this, 
then, that in the strong language of Scrip- 
ture you are dead already. Since you 
came into the world you have never been 
otherwise than dead. When born into 
the world you were dead in trespasses 
and sins. God, however, took pity on 
you and changed your condition ; but 
you are still dead, though in a different 
sense. "Ye are dead, and your life is 
hid with Christ in God." — ""We be dead 
with Christ." — " Know ye not," asks St. 
Paul in his epistle to the Romans," " that 
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus 
Christ were baptized into His death? 
Therefore we are buried with Him by 
baptism into death: that like as Christ 
was raised up from the dead by the glory 
of the Father, even so we also should 
walk in newness of life." 

And this doctrine our Church sets be- 
fore us in her collect for Easter Eve, 



DYING DAILY. 351 

wherein she prays God, that as we are 
'' baptized into the death of His blessed 
Son, so by continual mortifying our cor- 
rupt aflections, we may be buried with 
Him." And still more emphatically, in 
the Office of Public Baptism, she prays 
for the child to be baptized, " that the old 
Adam may be buried," and that " all car- 
nal aflections may die in liim." And sul - 
sequently, when he has been baptized, 
she speaks of him as being " dead unto 
sin," and as being " buried with Christ 
in His death," and prays, that as " he is 
made partaker of the death" of the Son 
of God, he " may also be a partaker of 
His resurrection." 

Thus, both Scripture and the Church 
teach us to look upon ourselves as dead 
to this world, from the moment we aie 
brought into covenant with God : but 
since, to each of us is allotted a longer 
or shorter period of sojourning therein ; 
and since, throughout the course of our 
sojourn, we are brought into contact with 
the world continually, our condition may 
be fairly spoken of as a dying daily. Our 
business is to root out, destroy, and kill 

10 



352 DYING DAILY. 

those vices, which, as evil weeds, are 
springing up in us unceasingly. We 
have, as St. Paul says, to '' crucify the old 
man ;" to kill, that is, those corrupt tem- 
pers, and appetites, which are natural to 
us, and which remain in us though we 
have been made regenerate, but which 
are at variance with the love of God. 
And this can only be done, by a process 
of torment, slow, and lingering, Uke that 
experienced by a victim on the Cross. 
We cannot say to a lust, or carnal appe- 
tite, Begone, and return no more. We 
cannot cast out the evil spirit at once ; all 
we can do is to struggle with it, and resist 
it ; to keep every entrance by which it 
could gain admission, fast and closed. 
We cannot destroy the noxious plant at 
once, but we may tear off each bud as it 
shoots forth, and scrape away the nour- 
ishing soil from the roots, and prevent 
the genial warmth of the sun from shining 
on it, and the rain from refreshing it. 
And thus acting, we shall in time get rid 
of it in great measure. It will become 
weak, and dwindle away : and so long 
as we exercise a watchful care respecting 



DYING DAILY. 353 

it, it will be unable to revive to our Imrt. 
Yet, as all this is an anxious and toilsome 
process, those who are engaged in it, may- 
be described as dying daily. Their life is 
a course of perpetual mortification; of 
kilhng and slaying those things which 
else would have strength to kill and slay 
them. " Ye are dead," writes St. Paul to 
the Colossians, " and your life is hid with 
Christ in God, . . . Mortify therefore your 
members which are upon earth : fornica- 
tion, uncleanness, inordinate afiection, 
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, 
which is idolatry." 

It appears, then, on the whole, that our 
condition in the world is this. We en- 
tered it, so to speak, in a state of hving 
death ; and while we continue in it we 
must die daily, in order that when our 
mortal bodies suffer death, we may, for 
Christ's merits, have a portion assigned 
US in His kingdom of hfe and glory. 

Now, it is not to be denied, that such 
a view of life must needs be repugnant 
to those who have not learned to consider 
the working out their own salvation as 
the one thing needful. Youth and health 



354 DYING DAILY. 

would be glad to look on life as a calm, 
unruffled vScene of sunsliine, which no 
clouds should overcast The world, the 
devil, and the flesh, have but one advice 
to those who are inclined to yield to their 
influence. *' Take thine ease, eat, drink, 
and be merry." " Rejoice, O young man, 
in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee 
in the day of thy youth ; and walk in the 
ways of thine heart, and in the sight of 
thine eyes." But never would these 
ensnarers remind him that for all these 
things God will bring him into judg- 
ment. 

I say it is not to be denied that religion, 
viewed as involving a continual struggle 
with our natural appetites, has something 
very austere and unattractive in it ; and 
it seems hard at first to understand how 
her ways can be ways of pleasantness, 
and that all her paths are peace. 

But the question for persons to decide 
is, not whether they like the prospect of 
a lengthened mortification and self-denial, 
of a perpetual battle with their appetites, 
and disease, and pain, and death ; but 
whether, being as they are, partakers of 



DYING DAILY. 355 

Adam's transgression, and liable to all 
the penalties incurred thereby, it is not 
far, far preferable to submit to any amount 
of suffering, during their short pilgrimage 
here below ; yea, if need there be (which, 
blessed be God, tliere is 7iot), to make this 
earth a liell to themselves, rather than 
after spending a few short years in selfish 
gratification, to pass to death eternal, — a 
hopeless, never-ending condition of mis- 
ery and torment ? This is the fair way of 
putting the inquiry to our mmds, and, so 
put, there can, I presume, be but one an- 
swer to it. It is hard when the world in- 
vites, to renounce it ; when Satan allures, 
to resist liim ; when the flesh tempts, to 
deny it ; but if these, when yielded to, 
will keep me for ever from God, then I 
will fight against them all the day long, 
and, the Lord being my helper, they shall 
gain no mastery over me. It is hard to 
mortify the members that are on the 
earth ; to say to the eyes. See not ; to 
the ears, Hear not ; to the tongue. Taste 
not ; to the hands, Touch not, handle not. 
But if these be the things which place 
my soul in jeopardy, I will rule them and 



856 DYING DAILY. 

control them with a rod of iron, It is 
hard to submit one's own will to God's, 
to resign oneself to pain, and sorrow, and 
bereavement, and worldly loss ; but it 
were harder still to be partakers of a pain 
and sorrow that can never end ; hardest 
of all to be shut out from His presence 
for ever. It is hard to look on death, to 
watch his coming year by year, to listen 
for his stealthy step, to feel the first touch 
of his cold finger, to meditate on the 
shroud, the grave, the worm ; but if these 
be the things that shut out the prospect 
of the invisible world, and that separate 
me from Christ, then welcome death, and 
shroud, and worm. I desire to depart and 
be with Christ, which is far better. 

This, brethren, is the way to teach our- 
selves to die daily, and to look upon reli- 
gion not as a cheerless, repulsive thing, 
but as that which, in spite of its aw^ul- 
ness, its stern demands, its exclusive 
claims, is worth all, and a thousand-fold 
more than all that we can surrender in 
its behalf 

And now let us apply what has been 
said to ourselves, and see in what respects 



DYING DAILY. 357 

we can make oiir lives a counterpart of 
St. Paul's, by dying dmly. llis daily 
death partly consisted in personal perils, 
in persecutions, in bonds and imprison- 
ments, and in the anxieties which arose 
from his care of all the Churches. So 
far our lot is dissimilar from his ; but in 
other respects his trials were the common 
trials of Christians, and therefore we may 
learn from his general conduct, his un- 
shrinking self-sacrifice, and his entire de- 
votion to his Master's service, how there- 
in we may die dmly. 

Now the first step towards dying daily, 
is to establish within ourselves, practi- 
cally, the feehng that we may die any 
day. And by this I mean, not the mere 
admission that hfe is uncertain, in which 
each individual makes a tacit reservation 
in his own favor; but such a strong and 
enduring conviction as brmgs to our muid 
with the dawn of every day the reflection 
that that day may be our last, and real- 
izes to us, in something more than words, 
that on each successive night we go to 
our bed as to our grave, and know not but 
we may awake in another world ; which 



358 DYING DAILY. 

makes us feel the necessity of so li\aQg, 
that, to use Bishop Ken's well known 
words, we may dread the grave as httle 
as our bed ; and which sets it down as 
the rule of our existence, that the con- 
templation of death is a thing never to 
be avoided and shunned, but to be kept 
as much in sight hs the provision of our 
daily bread. 

Another step towards d)dng daily is to 
learn to discipline our earthly affections, 
by dwelling much upon the thought that, 
though relations and friends are blessings 
to be enjoyed, and for which it behooves 
us to be very thankful, still they are only 
loans lent us by the Lord. He gives and 
He takes away; He either takes them 
away from us, or us from them. 

And the same rule which applies to our 
earthly friends must be brought to bear 
on our worldly possessions. Houses and 
lands, name and fame, all that the world 
sets most store by, we must learn to hold 
cheap, either by making no exertions to 
obtain them, or by making ready surren- 
der of them in any respects m which they 
may seem to interfere with our Christian 



I 
I 



DYING DAILV. 359 

progress. We mubt discipline ourselves 
to part with them by voluntary privations, 
must make them as much as possible a 
matter of indifierence to us, thankful if 
we have them, but ready to part with 
them, and unrepining when they are 
gone. For what saith the Apostle? 
*' Brethren, the time in aJiort : it remain- 
eth, that both they that have wives be as 
though they had none ; and they that 
weep, as though they wept not ; and they 
that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not ; 
and they that buy, as though they pos- 
sessed not ; and they that use this world, 
as not abusing it." 

So much with respect to our dying 
daily to the objects with which we are 
surrounded. But there are other matters 
with regard to which our daily life must 
be a hvmg death. 

If we had never broken our baptismal 
vows it might have sufficed for us to 
spend our allotted time in watchfulness, 
and prayer, and praise ; but as we are, 
we have most of us, it is to be feared, a 
heavy-load of guilt attaching to us, and 
therefore each day must bring with it a 

16* 



360 DYING DAILY. 

course of penitence and humiliation, and 
an acknowledgment that for our trans- 
gressions we have deserved death. We 
have to judge ourselves, in the hope that 
thereby we may escape the judgment of 
the Lord. We have to pray to God to 
mortify and kill all vices in us. We 
have to put our remaining corruptions to 
death ; in whatever respect we find our- 
selves to be carnal, therein we have to 
die daily. 

Our whole course of hfe must be a 
warfare and struggle with ourselves. The 
spirit must be taught to master the flesh : 
the body must be kept in subjection to 
the soul. Onr whole man must be dis- 
ciphned till it knows no will but the will 
of God. And this, under grace, can only 
be done by denying our appetites conti- 
nually, even in things lawful ; by habitu- 
ally considering others rather than our- 
selves ; by taking up our cross daily, and 
bearing it cheerfully, be it what it may ; 
by striving to follow the example of our 
Saviour Christ, and seeking Him in the 
ways of patience, endurance, and mortifi- 
cation spiritual and corporeal. 



DYING DAILY. 361 

I do not tell you that this is easy. T do 
not say that it is pleasant to ilesh and 
blood. But I dare assure you that its 
reward is with it, and that the peace 
springin<^ therefrom is of a khid which 
the world can neither give nor take away. 
I dare assure you that not all the indul- 
gence that heart can conceive, that not 
all the kingdoms of the world, and all 
the glory of them, would compensate for 
one single minute spent in the agonies of 
hell ; and that could we daily die a thou- 
sand deaths as agonizing as those which 
Christ our Saviour underwent for us, 
such an amount of suffering could not 
be worthy to be weighed against the risk 
of losing the lowest and humblest place 
in the courts of heaven. 

Learn then, brethren, to die daily, that 
so you may live eternally. Die to the 
world, die to sin, die to self And this 
not occasionally, and by fits and starts, 
but ever. Let your daily life be a living 
death. You will thus gradually learn to 
look on death not as a foe, but as a friend. 
It will be Christ to you to hve, and gain 
to die. Your days will be spent in serv- 



362 DYING DAILY. 

ing Christ, and looking for that death 
which will unite you to Him ; as years 
roll on you will be more and more dead 
to the tilings of this world ; your thoughts 
and hopes will be living in heaven : there 
needs but a little change, a dropping of 
the j.scales from your eyes, a casting 
off the garments of mortalit}^, and your 
thoughts and hopes will be reaUzed. The 
time is short : the trial is soon over : the 
long-looked-for summons comes ; and 
then, in a moment, in the twinkling of 
an eye, the snare is broken, and you are 
delivered : the wings of the dove ai*e 
given you; and so you flee away and 
are at rest. 



SERMON XIX. 

THE END OF ALL THINGS. 

1 Peter iv. 7. 

The end of all things is at hand : be ye therefore sober, and 
watch unto jirayer. 

The revelation here made by the Holy- 
Spirit is repeated in other parts of the 
New Testament. It was not indistinctly- 
intimated by our Lord Himself^ while on 
earth ; and after He had ascended to the 
Father, His Apostles gave it a prominent 
place in their teaching. They spoke of 
themselves as hving " in the last days," 
*' in the last times," and grounded their 
exhortations to increasing vigilance upon 
the argument that "the night was far 
spent," and that " the day was at hand," 
that "the Lord was at hand," that "the 
day" was "approaching," and that "the 
coming of the Lord was drawing nigh." 
Now perhaps we shall never ascertain 



864 THE END OF 

the exact ideas in the Apostles' minds 
when they used such language. At first 
sight it would appear hke an expression 
of their expecteition that the final con- 
summation of all things would take place 
in their own day. And it is probable that 
as the Man Christ Jesus declared in the 
fullest and most awful of all His prophe- 
cies, that ''of that day and that hour 
knoweth no man, no, not the angels which 
are in heaven, neither the Son, but the 
Father," so the Apostles, though God had 
not given the spirit by measure unto 
them, were left in the same ignorance, 
in this respect, as the angels themselves. 
Possibly, for our sakes they were even 
allowed to continue in somewhat of sus- 
pense, whether the generation in which 
they hved would, or would not, witness 
a catastrophe infinitely more terrible than 
that of the overthrow of Jerusalem, and 
the casting away of the chosen race. 

But whatever may have been the act- 
ual state of the Apostles' minds in this 
respect, two things are evident, first, that 
they spoke as though the end of all things 
were immediatelv at hand ; and secondly, 



ALL THLVGS. 365 

that since that tune, what to us seems a 
long period, has passed away. 

Now if the Christian world, instead of 
being what it is, were leading a lil'e of 
faith, it is evident that tlie result of this 
woukl be, not that men would have 
grown careless and inditferent on the 
subject, but that they would be continu- 
ally looking out lor the coming of the Son 
of Man. 

But men have never been wilhng to 
look out for the signs of the Lord's com- 
ing, nor to hsten for the sound of Ills 
chariot wheels. It was so when Christ 
our Saviour would have gathered tlie 
children of Jerusalem together ; — but 
they " would not," and so the end was, 
that " their house was left unto them de- 
solate." And St. Peter in his second 
epistle forewarns us that the same shall 
be the case in these last days. " There 
shall come," saith he, " in the last days, 
scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 
and saying, Where is the promise of His 
coming ? for since the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as tliey were from the 
be^innins: of the creation." 



36G THE END OF 

And that which was the sin of an 
earUer age of the Church is certainly- 
one of the marked offences of our own. 
They, of whom I have spoken, did not 
comprehend the nature of that particular 
coming which had been predicted, and 
so they would not watch at all, or if they 
did so at first, they soon grew careless. 
The same is the case with ourselves. 
I am not speaking of the openly wicked, 
who cast off, so far as they can, all thought 
of God, but of those who are considered 
decent and respectable people. And of 
them, I say, that, generally speaking, 
their tone is not that of men who are 
looking for Christ's coming. Yet we 
ought to be always expecting His com- 
ing, visibly or invisibly, either to judg- 
ment, or in some of those ways in wliich 
already the past has been made a ty- pe of 
the future. In every judgment which 
has come upon the Church, in every per- 
secution which has befallen it, Christ 
may be said, in some sense, to have visit- 
ed us judicially. And in proportion as 
men have looked out for Him, and re- 
cognized Him in these visitations, may 



ALL THLVGS. 367 

they be said to liav(* bron '' Avntcliini:: for 
their L(n-cl."' 

But now what 1 would have you to 
consider is this. \\ Ould net tlir habitual 
lookinji: out for Christ, in the various dis- 
}x-nsations of His Providence, be con- 
sidered, by the ordiiuny class of m bat 
are called respectable pcoi)l<\ to be the 
mark of a weak and superstitious mind? 
Wonhl not those who are watching for 
the siirns of His Advent, if at least they 
confessed that they did so, be pointed out 
as enthusiasts ? 

The question answers itself Any seri- 
ous-minded person among us who is in 
the habit of viewing the workings of 
Providence, in the hope that he may not 
be found among the shmiberers when 
the Lord shall come, must knoAvfuU well 
by past experience, that the deeper and 
more absorbing his thoughts on such 
matters are, the more he is forced to keep 
them to himself His neighbors will not 
enter into his feelings : they can no more 
enter into them than the blind man can 
appreciate a fair landscape, or a deaf man 
the sweet sounds of music. Such an 



368 THE END OF 

one, therefore, for the most part, must be 
content to walk the world alone ; there 
is a wall upon his right hand and upon 
his left. On the subject which most fills 
his mind, he must be silent, lest others 
should treat it irreverentially. He must 
hold his tongue and speak nothing, even 
though it be pain and grief to him. 

But this very silence is a proof that the 
world will not bear to hear of truths 
which it dreads. It will turn away from 
the contemplation of them so long as it 
can, and occupy itself with other thoughts. 
*' As the days of Noe were, so shall also 
the coming of the Son of Man be. For 
as in the days that were before the flood 
they were eating and drinking, marrying 
and giving in marriage, until the day that 
Noe entered into the ark, and knew not 
until the flood came, and took them all 
away ; so shall also the coming of the 
Son of Man be." 

It appears, then, that one of the signs 
of Christ's coming will be the absence of 
all expectation concerning Him. He 
will come in an hour when the world 
feels safe from His arrival ; either when 



ALL THINGS. .*3G9 

it is not thinking at all about Ilim, or 
when it has persuaded itself that the 
period of His Advent will be at some 
other time. He will come hke a thief in 
the night, when men are asleep. 

Now if this be the case, we, at least, 
have no reason to suppose that His ap- 
proach can be far distant^ for certainly 
were He to come now, He would take 
the majority of us altogether by surprise. 

But there are other signs of Christ's 
speedy coming beside this, to which we 
shall do well to attend. Of course, I am 
not presuming to speak of the nature of 
that coming. It may be that the final 
consummation of all things is at hand : it 
may be that He is coming to visit and 
purify the Church by some sharp trial. 
On such a matter it would be as irreve- 
rent, as it would be beside my purpose, 
to express an opinion. The storm which 
seems gathering round, may burst upon 
us in an overwhelming torrent, — or the 
clouds may disperse, and the sun shine 
out once more' in his strength. The cri- 
sis to which all things seem so rapidly 
tending, may be His last coming, or 



370 THE END OF 

merely such a type and foreshadowing of 
it, as the Church has seen aheady. But 
since in either case, our duties are the 
same, the only thing for us to do is to 
look out for the tokens of His coming, 
that so we may be prepared for it. What 
those tokens are, — "the signs in the 
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; 
and upon earth distress of nations, 
with perplexity," we have all read in 
Holy Scripture ; and when we see those 
tokens, or any of them, it is the part of 
true wisdom to be watchful and observ- 
ant. "Behold the fig-tree, and all the 
trees ; when they now shoot forth, ye see 
and know of your own selves that sum- 
mer is now nigh at hand. So likewise 
ye, when ye see these things come to 
pass, know ye that the kingdom of God 
is nigh at hand." 

But are there, it will be asked, any such 
tokens now in sight, as those which the 
voice of prophecy has set forth as har- 
bingers of His coming ? 

I answer, that since He left us the 
world has never been without them ; for 
since that time, men have been living 



ALL THINGS. 371 

"in the last days," and have beenlan<;ht 
to beheve that " the end of all things is at 
hand." Therefore, even when the world 
and the Church have seemed in the most 
tranquil state, it has been the duty of 
Christians to be anxiously watching. 
And consequently, still greater becomes 
the urgent need of vigilance when there is 
any appearance of such a state of things, 
as that which we are taught to expect 
will precede the immediate coming of the 
Lord. 

Now, from the nature of things, we 
are bad judges of the relative importance 
of events which take place in our own 
day, and in wliich, perhaps, we ourselves 
bear our share ; and therefore it is quite 
possible that I may be more or less mis- 
taken in what I am about to say : but I 
beg you to observe, that mistake in this 
case is on the side of safety. No possible 
harm can arise from it. Whereas, mis- 
take on the other side is full of most im- 
minent peril. Our duty is to watch at all 
tijiies, and therefore if Christ should not 
come when we are looking out for Him, 
it matters not ; for we are still in the path 



372 THE END OF 

of duty. But were He to come when 
we were not looking out for Plim, and 
when our hearts were overcharged with 
tiie cares of this hfe, then we could only 
expect the fate of that servant Vvdio would 
not watch. 

With this observation, and without 
doing more than glancing at the mere 
surface of things which are within the 
knowledge of all, I would say that it 
seems impossible to look at the world 
and the Church at the present time, with- 
out seeing in them many things which 
seem tending towards a tremendous con- 
test between the principles of good and 
evil, such as we are taught to expect \\dll 
take place before that day when the sign 
of the Son of Man shall appear in heaven, 
when '' all the tribes of the earth shall 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory." 

For look out upon the face of the 
world and see what is passing therein, — 
not in our own nation only, but among 
all the ci^dlized people of the earth. Can 
any description reach their case so fully 



ALL THINGS. 373 

as what is briefly comprehended in those 
two words of Holy A\nt, 'distress,'' and 
" perplexity ?" Is there not a general 
loosening of those bands which hold the 
frame-work of society together ^ a fever- 
ish restlessness which rejects all that has 
been long established, though there is 
notlung better to supply its place ? are 
not even the worldly-minded, and they 
who least watch the ways of Providence 
constrained to observe and own the fact 
that the course of events seem rapidly 
hastening to some portentous crisis in the 
annals of mankmd ? Everywhere the 
leaven of anarchy and revolution seems 
to spread, and if, as yet, nation does not 
rise against nation, and kingdom against 
kingdom, it is only because each has more 
than enough to occupy it at home. Li- 
testine trouble : — the presence of evil 
men skilful in misleading the ignorant ; — 
a growing irksomeness of restraint to au- 
thority ; — extremes of poverty and luxury ; 
— on the one hand privations and suf- 
ferings of which it is dreadful to think, 
and on the other, extravagance, eflemina- 
cy, and a love of selfish comfort wliicji 



374 THE END OF 

have ever been one of the surest signs of 
a decaying people ; these, and many oth- 
er things, on which I cannot now dwell 
particularly, all point to the same way, 
namely, to the disorganization and dis- 
ruption of society among the most im- 
portant nations of the world. 

And now, turning from the world to the 
Church, shall we see aught therein but 
what should lead us to beheve that " the 
end of all things is at hand ?" Time was, 
when the privileges of the Gospel were 
offered to the Jews, and rejected by them. 
Because of unbelief they were broken 
off, and the wild olive tree was graffed in 
that it might partake of the root and fat- 
ness of the good olive tree. The Saviour 
came unto His own, and His own receiv- 
ed Him not, and so He turned unto the 
Gentiles. Among us sinners of the Gen- 
tiles the Church was planted, and has 
continued with us from Apostohc times. 
But how have we benefited by the bless- 
ing ? Have we not reason to fear that 
we must have exhausted the long-suffer- 
ing of God, — that our season of trial must 



ALL THINGS. 375 

be well nigh ended, and "the times of the 
Geutiles be fulfilled r 

For what |ias been the history of the 
Church of the Gentiles ^ J las it not been, 
from first to last, a catalo<^ue of schisms 
and offences in that body wliich Christ 
enjoined to preserve its unity ? Has not 
one heresy succeeded another, and error 
followed upon error, with a variety and 
rapidity that have been inexhaustible ? 
Has there not been incessant strife, and 
hatred, and variance, and emulation ? 
Have not distractions torn the flock of 
Christ asunder, and disfigurements mar- 
red its fair beauty? Is not the East divid- 
ed from the AVest, and are not both taint- 
ed and infected with the foul, clinging 
leprosy of corruption and superstition? 
And even in those branches of the Catho- 
lic Church where faith seems purest, is 
there not a separation from the rest of 
Christiendom, and a total absence of com- 
munion and fellowship ? Surely such a 
state of things would have justified, at 
almost any period of its existence, the ap- 
plication of the Saviour's prediction, to 
the Gentile Church, that in the last days 

17 



376 THE END OF 

*' many shall be offended, and shall betray 
one another, and shall hate one another," 
— that there shall arise " fal^ Christs, and 
false prophets," — and that " because ini- 
quity shall abound, the love of many 
shall wax cold." And if such has been 
the state of things among us for long, what 
possible ground have we for expecting 
that our transgressions and disunion will 
be tolerated much longer? The graft, 
wild by nature, which was graffed con- 
trary to nature into a good olive tree, has 
failed to bring forth fruit : what is there 
to plead why it should not be broken off 
for ever? 

I do not mean (God forbid !) to say that 
the Gospel has been preached among the 
Gentiles in vain. The noble army of 
Martyrs, the goodly company of Saints 
belong, for the most part, to the Gentile 
Church. Individual piety there has been 
among us, and individual piety would 
have saved Sodom. God is ever gather- 
ing in His elect, — separating the wheat 
from the tares, winnowing the seed 
from the chaff, thoroughly purging His 
floor, and collecting the wheat for Hi s 



ALL THINGS. 377 

garner. But looking at tlic Gentile 
Church in the mass, and tracini^ its his- 
tory since the prayers and ahus ol' Cor- 
nehus went up lor a memorial before 
God, can we speak of it with other feel- 
ings than those of shame and pain, — or 
than as acknowledging that it has proved 
itself unworthy of its mercies, and there 
fore as being only fit for judgment ! 

And now, bringing our inquiries near- 
er home, what shall we say of the con- 
dition of our own branch of the Cathohc 
Church? What grounds have we for 
hoping that ive shall escape in the great 
and terrible day of the Lord's coming ? 
How far hav^e English Churchmen done 
their duty, how far are they doing it to- 
wards their poor and ignorant brethren ? 
Bear witness the spiritual destitution that 
exists among us, and the state of our 
manufacturing population, where those 
who are not schismatics, are heathens. 
Bear witness the state of our vast Colo- 
nial possessions, which we all but leave 
without even the semblance of the three- 
fold order of the Ministry. Bear witness 
the niggard measure of our offerings to 



378 THE END OF 

God. Bear witness, — (to go one step 
further) the amount of national transgres- 
sion, whether among high or low; our 
worldhness, our covetousness, our irrever- 
ence, and, above all, our miserable divi- 
sions which are of themselves sufficient 
cause why God should withdraw Ms face 
from us for ever. 

The suggestions which I have now 
made, will, I trust, suffice to convince you 
that we have good reason to apply the 
admonition of the text to ourselves. We 
know that we are living in the last 
times. We know that Christ's coming 
cannot be long delayed. We do not 
know whether the Anticlnrist is yet among 
us, but we are sure that even now there 
are many Antichrists. We do not know 
whether Christ's final coming to judg- 
ment be very near, but we do know that 
there are some at least of those tokens to 
be seen, which, as heretofore they have 
ushered in events that have been former 
types of his coming, so they may be ex- 
pected now to be signs of some approach- 
ing visitation. 

Here, then, is the ground of our admo- 



ALL THINGS. 379 

nition to you : and the admonition itself 
is, that we be ''sober, and watch, unto 
prayer." — Plain and simple directions 
these, which all can understand, and 
which it is in the power of all, who seek 
for gifts of grace, to obey. 

O that there were such an heart in us 
that we could learn to realize the unseen 
world, and Uve in a state of watchful ex- 
pectancy, as men who are looking for 
the speedy coming of their Lord ! that 
instead of entangling ourselves with pass- 
ing interests and objects, worldly success 
and temporal advantages, we would en- 
deavor to grow indifferent to all that does 
not bear some close relation to our spirit- 
ual condition ! that we would discipline 
ourselves into habits of self-control, that 
so we may view things calmly, and with 
eyes undimmed by the false glare of this 
world ! that we would instil into our hearts 
something of that temper which enables 
men to become martyrs and confessors ; 
— something of that hardness which de- 
spises luxury and comforts, and which is 
bold in act and careless of suffering; — 
something: of that habitual communion 



380 THE END OF 

with God, which can only be arrived at 
through a Ufe of prayer ; — something of 
that watchfulness, that unceasing vigil- 
ance, in what the world calls trifles, which 
is the only safeguard against our being 
taken by surprise, the only pledge that 
we shall not be slumbering, when all 
others are taken unawares ! O that we 
would enter more fully upon the dis- 
charge of those duties required by Him 
Who will come to be our Judge, when 
He bade us stand with our loins girt 
about, and our lights burning, like unto 
men that wait for their Lord. " Blessed is 
that servant whom his Lord when He 
Cometh shall find so doing." 

What things may be coming upon the 
earth we cannot tell; what trials may 
yet await the Church we know not ; how 
near at hand, how fierce, how terrible 
they may be. Only we may be sure that 
there is nothing bad which we have not 
deserved. Only we trust that there is 
yet space and grace for individual re- 
pentance. Only we have this comfort, 
that even when Antichrist himself is 
among us, his reign will be brief, — for 



ALL THINGS. 381 

the elect's sake those days shall be short- 
ened. 

May our good and merciful Lord, — lie 
Who by His blood-shedding redeemed 
us, and Who is now our Intercessor, — 
may He aid us to acquire the spirit of 
soberness, and watchfulness, and prayer. 
May He give us strength according to 
our need, and enable us to rejoice in tri- 
bulation, and triumph in sufierijig for 
His Name's sake 



SERMON XX. 



THE pilgrim's ABIDING FRIExND. 



Luke xxiv. 29. 

But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us; for it is 
toward evening, and the day is far spent. 

If there be something which is deeply 
affecting in the Evangehst's brief account 
of the several interviews which took place 
between our Lord and His disciples, after 
that He was risen from the dead, and be- 
fore He ascended to the right hand of 
the Father, there is something no less hu- 
miliating in the want of faith, and slow- 
ness of heart, exliibited by those who for 
a long season had had such abundant 
proofs that He was indeed the Christ, the 
Son of the living God. 

Yet, amid all theh weakness, the to- 
kens were not doubtful of their loyalty, 
their honest sincerity, and true affection ; 



THE PILGRIM^S ABIDING FRIEND. 393 

and if the resurrection of their I^ord was 
an event altogether beyond the reach of 
their most sanguhie hopes, their deep 
sorrow at His loss, and the expression of 
their trust, — shaken hideed, yet scarcely 
overthrown, — that it was lie who should 
have redeemed Israel, may neverthe- 
less be taken as an evidence that their 
errors, and hifirmhies, and prejudices, 
were in great measure those of their 
times, their country, and condition in life, 
while their virtues were altogether their 
own. 

The incident recorded by St. Luke,'and 
to which I am about to invite your atten- 
tion, is an illustration of my meaning. 

On the day of the Resurrection, two 
of the disciples were on their way to 
Emmaus, a village some short distance 
from Jerusalem. In what frame of mind 
they journeyed we can be at no loss to 
discover, for when our Blessed Lord ap- 
peared to them, we are told they were 
engaged in communing and reasoning 
together, of all the things which had hap- 
pened so recently at Jerusalem, and that 
His first question to them (for as yet their 

17* 



*SSi THE pilgrim's 

eyes were holden that they should not 
know Him) was in these words, " What 
manner of communications are these that 
ye have one to another, as ye walk, and 
are sad?^^ 

Their answer showed their doubts and 
their suspense. Their minds were full 
of Him, whom they acknowledged as 
"mighty in word and deed, before God, 
and all the people," yet nevertheless they 
could not bring themselves to speak of 
Him as more than ''a prophet;" they mani- 
fest their astonishment at the tale of the 
reported resurrection, yet never seem to 
call to mind the many predictions which 
had been uttered on Ihe subject. 

INio sooner, however, does the Saviour 
begin to expound to them the Scriptures 
concerning Himself, than their hearts 
burn within them, they hsten vnXh. the 
deep interest of men wlio.se thoughts are 
all centered in one absorbing subject ; 
who honestly seek for more light and 
knowledge, who desire to be convinced, 
and to be led into the way of truth. Their 
hearts revive as they listen to the teach- 
ing of their imknown companion ; they 



ABIDING FRIEND. 385 

feel that it is good lo be in his company ; 
^nd when he seems disposed to part from 
them, they constrain Him to continue 
with them: — " Abide with us; for it is 
toward evening, and the day is far spent.'' 

Now, for your present instruction, my 
brethren, perhaps I may be permitted to 
apply these words in a spiritual, rather 
than in a literal sense, and to draw from 
them some encouragements which may 
support you along the dim, uncertain 
path of the unknown future, and direct 
you to that One Abiding Friend, that one 
unfailing and unvarying Source of godly 
hope and consolation, which, amid all 
the changes and chances of this mortal 
life, will never fail us at our need, or dis- 
appoint us of its succor, as " a very pre- 
sent help in time of trouble." 

It may be affirmed, then, that our own 
condition in this our state of earthly trial, 
is not wholly unhke that of the disciples 
to whom I have alluded. At least like 
them, we tread a path of sorrow, with 
blinded eyes, and uncertain steps; like 
them, we wander forth (if so be we have 
renounced the world) desolate and lonely; 



386 THE PILGRIM'S 

like them, we have learned by woful ex- 
perience the extent of our own infirmi- 
ties and incapacities; hke them, as we 
commune together, we are sad, and, in 
truth, have much to make us so. 

Why, then, should we not betake our- 
selves to the same Friend in whom they 
found solace? why should we not ad- 
dress our prayer deUberately and habitu- 
ally to that Saviour whom they invoked 
unconsciously ? why should we not say 
to Him, as they said, " Abide with us, for 
it is toward evening, and the day is far 
spent." 

Far spent indeed it is, even to the 
youngest, and healthiest, and strongest 
among us : far spent, inasmuch as by ev- 
ery one of us time has been wasted, which 
can never be re-called, opportunities ne- 
glected, which will never be vouchsafed 
again, talents abused or frittered away, 
not one of which can be so treated with 
impunity, and means of grace despised, 
not one of which, but if duly improved, 
would have shown itself of inestimable 
value. The day is far spent. To many 
of us but few^ more working hours remain. 



ABIDING FRIEND. 387 

And this we know by our own sensa- 
tions. We feel the inroads of time, tlie 
ravages of care and sorrow, the weari- 
ness of lengthened toil. The infirmities 
of advancing age, and the faihire of our 
powers of life, are unequivocally warning 
us that night is coming on, that before 
long we shall be able to work no more, 
that the years draw nigh when we shall 
say that we have no pleasure in them. 
To none of us is there any assurance that 
the day is not far spent, for even though 
in respect of the usual length of years al- 
lotted to man, we may not have yet lived 
out half our time, who can tell that his 
sun shall not go down Avhile it is yet 
day? who can tell how near, or how 
far distant, that night may be in which 
*' his soul may be required of him." 

" It is toward evening !" Hour after 
hour has passed away ; the early dawn, — 
the fresh and joyous morning, — the scorch- 
ing noontide with its heat and burden, — 
the afternoon with its weariness and ex- 
haustion, — each in turn have departed ; 
and change and chance, and sin and sor- 
row have been the companions of each. 



388 THE PILGRIMS 

The hopes which we conceived in the 
brightness of our prime have shrunk and 
withered : the schemes which our matu- 
rer years were to have ripened, have, for 
the most part, ended hke untimely fruit 
in rottenness and decay : yea, whether in 
the main, success or disappointment has 
been the result of our exertions, the clos- 
ing day must elicit from every one of us 
the same confession, that " all is Vanity." 
Pleasure, riches, power, rank, youth, 
strength, beauty, health, all perish in the 
using. " Vanity of vanities. All is van- 
ity !" ^ 

" It is towards evening !" Hour after 
hour has passed away ; and though we 
have labored on to the last, not an hour 
has elapsed but some one of our fellow- 
laborers has been called from our side to 
go home, and receive his wages from the 
Master's hand. When we were children, 
the children whom we loved, and who 
were the companions of our merry games, 
died around us, and gave us, perhaps, the 
first taste of that sorrow, which has ever 
since been mingled with our cup. In 
our youth we were shocked at seeing 



ABIDING FRIEND. 389 

those of our own age fall beside us under 
some sudden blow, and we mourned at 
the time with all the depth and emotion 
of young and feeling hearts. But we 
Hved on ; yea, we lived to manhood, istill 
shocked and warned by the successive 
deaths of those contemporiu'ieswho seem- 
ed but as yesterday to have the same pro- 
spects of life with ourselves. 

And now, as in increasing years wc 
look back, and see, perhaps, not one in 
ten of those with whom we started on 
our career surviving : as we find our 
children ready to succeed us, and a new 
generation preparing to supply our place ; 
and as we feel within ourselves the 
certain signs of decay and dissolution ; 
what thought, — as year by year, Ad- 
vent and Christmas, Lent and Passion 
Week, Easter and Whitsuntide return 
(seasons sanctified each by its own asso- 
ciations of the past); what thought, I 
say, can come more naturally to our 
minds than this, that our remaining time 
must needs be short ; that our opportu- 
nities of serving God in the courts of 
His House are rapidly drawing to an end ; 



390 THE pilgrim's 

that " it is toward evening, and the day is 
far spent ?" 

Amid such reflections as these (and I 
have named but a few of the most obvi- 
ous of those which must find an answer 
in every heart), I know nothing but the 
thought of Christ's abiding presence, of 
His being in us, and with us, the Sharer 
of our trials, and the Companion of our 
pilgrimage, which can in any way fill up 
the aching void occasioned by bereave- 
ment ; which can pluck out the stings of 
sorrow and disappointment, and change 
our despair and repinings at the vanity 
of things temporal, into grateful acknow- 
ledgments, and child-like trust, that He, 
AVho in hitherto preserving us, has, at 
the same time, been gradually weaning 
us from this world, therein has afford- 
ed us abundant grounds of hope that 
He, Who has liitherto delivered, will yet 
dehver. 

It was the Psalmist's humble trust that 
the loving-kindness and mercy of God 
should follow him all the days of his 
life : and surely they who are conscious 
that they are endeavoring to walk in the 



ABIDING FRIEiND. 391 

Psalmist's steps, may repose themselves 
on the same comfortable hope. 

Pilgrims along life's stern and dreary- 
way, we have still, like the disciples on 
the road to Emmaus, a companion in onr 
path. Who walks beside ns, unseen, in- 
deed, yet close at hand, Who sympa- 
thizes with lis as having shared our in- 
firmities and sorrows, Who is our Brother 
as well as our Lord, Who, though as yet 
our eyes are holden that we should not 
know Him as He is, knows us, and loves 
and pities us in spite of that knowledge, 
and AVho is willing to tarry with us, and 
to be the Guide we so much need, or 
rather. Who hath already guided us, and 
hath talked with us by the way, even be- 
fore our hearts began to burn within us. 

How gracious have been His counsels 
to every one of us ! Oh ! how great has 
been the sum of them ! For creation and 
preservation, for regeneration and adop- 
tion, — for the blessings of this life, and 
the hopes of another ; for Redemption 
purchased for us, and the Church, and 
the Sacraments, provided to apply it to 
us ; for the mercies bestowed upon us 



:^92 THE pilgrim's 

every day, for the protection vouclijsafed 
to us from hourly perils, what thanks do 
we owe to llini. Who never sluinbereth, 
nor sleepeth, Whose eye is ever upon us 
for ^ood, AMiose ear is ever open to our 
prayers ? Can we doubt that tlie past is 
a guarantee for the future t Can we hesi- 
tate as to WJwse presence should go with 
us, in order to secure us rest ? Can we 
be uncertain as to the fittest prayer to 
Him Wlio alone can preserve our going 
out and our coming in from this time 
forth for evermore ? 

" Abide Thou with us : for it is toward 
evening, and the day is far spent" God 
our Father, our Redeemer, and our Sanc- 
tifier, has been with us hitherto, and that 
is the guarantee, that unless we grieve 
Him, resist Him, and drive Him from us, 
He is ready to continue with us to the 
end. " Why art thou," then, " so vexed, 
O my soul : and why art thou so dis- 
quieted within me ? O put thy trust in 
God : for I will yet thank Him, which is 
the help of my countenance, and my 
God." 

This, mv brethren, is the state of mind 



AniDixG rnirs'D. :^on 

at which tin* (1iris1i;m will he contiiiu- 
aliy (.•iidnavoiiiii;- to arrive, — a .^iinpN' 
committal oC himself lo his (hxl and 
Saviour, with prayers Ibr Jlis eoiilinual 
presence, and entire, unreserved, unhesi- 
tating trust in His ever-watchtul l^rovi- 
dcnce. 

The Christian knows that so long as 
God continues him in the world, he must 
continue in the fellowship of his v^aviour's 
sutferings, and therelbre, liis desire is to 
be made hke unto Him in faith and pa- 
tience. If. hitherto he has had much of 
trial, he trusts that this, his experience, 
may enable him to meet those troubles 
which are in store for him hereafter, in a 
better and more submissive spirit. If as 
yet God's chastening hand has fallen 
hghtlyon him, he endeavors to discipline 
himself that so he may bear the rod when 
it comes upon him. If as yet, neither 
chance nor change, sickness nor sorrow, 
nor care, nor anxiety, nor disappoint- 
ment, have dimmed the brightness of his 
eye, nor imprinted a furrow on his brow, 
he soberly reflects that the probability is 
that some or all of them will speedily bo 



394 THE pilgrim's 

his portion, and he prepares himself in 
them, " to meet his God." The fewer the 
trials that have as yet been sent, the 
heavier may be those which are impend- 
ing. The rarer the opportunities hitherto 
of showing forth faith and resignation, 
the brighter must be the light exhibited, 
when God shall put him to the test. 

Known unto God only, are the desti- 
nies which await any one of us : and 
which of us has only a few more weeks 
or months of existence, none but He can 
tell. But of this, at least, we are all 
aware that to none of us can many years 
remain ; to any of us death may even 
now be at our doors. " We bring our 
years to an end, as it were a tale that is 
told." And therefore the Christian makes 
daily preparation for that which may 
come at any time, and which at some 
time must come. And this preparation 
consists in a steadfast and determined 
weaning of himself from the aftections 
and interests of this world ; and a calm 
looking forward to those visitations which 
the chastening hand of our Heavenly 
Father prepares for all those whom He 



ABIDING FRIEND. 39G 

does not .sec lit to take early unto llim- 
selfj and who therefore are tlu* nior*' 
tempted to look on this workl as a iionir. 
rather than as a hrief restin^-plaee, and 
to vahie its good tliiiii^s above their jiro- 
per vahie. 

The Christian knows that the h)n<;rr 
he hves, the more sorrows must await 
him, more disappointnicMit of hoj)es, more 
breaking of loiig-estahhshed ties, more 
changes, more pain, more tears, more be- 
reavements, more death. And he knows 
that these things must fall on him, as his 
own strength is faihng, and as sickness 
and infirmity are wearing down his bodily 
powers and the buoyancy of his mind, 
and bringing him to the house appointed 
for all li\ing. 

The man of this world shrinks from 
the contemplation of this, his inevitable 
fate, and if forced to look forward to it, 
he asks whether it be possible for thought 
to conceive a more dismal state of things? 
And dismal to him it is, — dismal to all it 
must be who have not habituated them- 
selves to the thought that their blessings 
are given for a time only, — dismal to 



396 THE pilgrim's 

all who have not learned to rejoice, as 
though they rejoiced not ; to possess as 
though they possessed not ; to die daily, 
and to sacrifice by mortification, and con- 
stant self-denial, even things indifferent, 
for Chrisl's sake. 

But to those who are living for eternity 
it is not so : to such persons (and God 
grant that you, my brethren, may be of 
the number) the inevitably increasing 
sorrows of mortality do not present a 
cheerless prospect, for it is beyond the 
grave, and above this fleeting world, that 
the Christian has fixed his hopes and de- 
sires. And therefore it is no sad sight to 
him when breathless and weary with the 
race, to find the goal in view. His con- 
versation is in heaven, not on earth, and 
therefore the latter years of his Me have a 
joy and peace which his youth knew not. 
Then he was perhaps more or less unde- 
cided in his choice ; or dazzled and be- 
wildered with the false glare of pomps 
and pleasures ; but now he feels himself 
approaching the confines of that unseen 
world, into which his aching sight has 
long striven to penetrate ; the scales are 



ABJDlNCi FKIEND. 397 

falling from his eyes : the veil which has 
been interposed between hi in and the 
light of day is wearing thinner and thin- 
ner, year by year. And through its sha- 
dowy folds he discovers his treasure gra- 
dually accumulating, where neither fraud 
nor force can deprive him of it. He 
knows indeed that evening is approach- 
ing, and the day far spent ; but he knows 
by the same token that the time of his 
departure is at hand, and, in humble con- 
fidence in God's mercies through Christ 
Jesus, he trusts he is bound to a shore 
where trials and sorrows shall find no 
place. 

The hour of death, — that hour with 
blessings on its wings, — is that which is 
to give him the liberty, and rest, and 
peace which here he has not. He long 
has looked for it, and therefore he calmly 
meets it. Not boldly and presumptuous- 
ly, — God forbid ! with no bhnd self con- 
fidence, or irreverent self righteousness, — 
God forbid ! but meekly and trustfully, 
without despondency, without dismay : 
with trembling, and yet with godly hope. 
He knows the Saviour in Whom he has 



398 THE filgkim's abiding friend. 

trusted, the all-sufficiency of His Atone- 
ment, and the power of His Intercession 
with the Father. He has experienced 
for many years God's mercy and loving- 
kindness, and wretched and miserable 
sinner as he knows himself to be, he still 
trusts that mercy and Joving-kindness to 
bring him peace at the last, and to pro- 
vide him a place, even though it be the 
humblest and lowliest of all, for his bless- 
ed Redeemer's sake, beneath the footstool 
of that Redeemer's throne ! 



347 7 



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